Death in the Ice: The Shocking Story of Franklin’s Final Expedition

Fantastic exhibition at the National Maritime Museum looking at the disappearance of the Sir John Franklin expedition to the Arctic circle in the 19th century.

The exhibition covered so many aspects of the story from the commissioning of the expedition through its journey then switching to the various rescue attempts at the time and ending with the recent discovery of the two ships and the underwater excavations of them. The story was told as a mystery and you were desperate to know the outcome.

I loved the section on what life on board the ships while they were trapped in the ice for two years with a wonderful selection of moving, personal objects. Any objects which had been excavated from the boats were marked as such. Of course I was most moved by the willow pattern china they had taken with them. I was stunned to read that they had taken three years of supplies with them which is why they had sat it out in the ice for so long.

I also loved the sudden switch from this view of the ship to Franklin’s wife’s campaign to find the men or find out what happened to them. The exhibition went through the various expeditions gradually piecing together the story. Needless to say don’t expect a happy ending!

Closes on 7 January 2018

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