Amazing 19th Century Ice Ejection During Northwest Passage Sail

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the historical attempts by the British Navy to navigate the Northwest Passage in the 19th century, focusing on the challenges posed by pack ice and the experiences of explorers. It includes reflections on survival, exploration, and notable expeditions, as well as comparisons to other maritime events.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Historical
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe the difficulties faced by ships trapped in ice for extended periods, highlighting the potential for exploration during these times.
  • There are mentions of the ill-fated expedition of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror led by John Franklin, which ended in tragedy, with various speculated causes for the crew's demise, including botulism and cannibalism.
  • One participant references Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, noting the challenges of survival and the impact of a rogue wave encountered during the journey.
  • Another participant corrects a previous claim about the height of a wave associated with a landslide in Lituya Bay, providing details about the actual event and its effects.
  • There is a discussion about Roald Amundsen's successful navigation of the Northwest Passage, emphasizing the skills he learned from the Inuit that contributed to his later achievements.
  • A participant acknowledges a mistake regarding the distance a chunk of ice was reported to have traveled, correcting it from five hundred feet to five hundred yards.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion includes multiple competing views and interpretations of historical events, with no clear consensus on the details or outcomes of the various expeditions mentioned.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty regarding the specific causes of the failures of certain expeditions and the accuracy of historical accounts, indicating limitations in the available evidence and differing interpretations.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to those studying maritime history, Arctic exploration, or the challenges faced by explorers in extreme conditions.

Hornbein
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In the 19th century the British Navy tried to sail ships through the Northwest Passage. The main obstacle was that the wind would drive pack ice against the northern shore of Canada. No ship could withstand a large berg.

The ships usually got stuck in the ice for years, leaving plenty of time for exploration. Once they found a chunk of ice eight feet tall and forty feet in circumference, five hundred feet from the shore. A buildup of ice pressure must have caused it to splinter off and fly all that distance.
 
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So the ships were stuck in ice for years? Were there any survivors in that brutal cold?
 
osilmag said:
So the ships were stuck in ice for years? Were there any survivors in that brutal cold?
The were well prepared for that with plenty of coal. You can carry a lot in a ship, even in those days. There was trouble with condensation dripping everywhere, but all and all it was OK as long as you didn't have to hike out.

Shackleton distinguished himself by losing his ship but nevertheless preserving all of his men, even though they could not hike out of ocean-bound Antarctica. They made a desperate voyage to a whaling station in small boats through the world's roughest ocean. On the way they encountered a rogue wave. The boats had been covered with wood so they survived, but they say Shackleton was never the same after that.

This record for huge wave survival was smashed in an Alaskan fjord when a yacht survived a five hundred foot wave caused by a massive landslide.
 
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Hornbein said:
The ships usually got stuck in the ice for years, leaving plenty of time for exploration.
But it did not go well for all searches for the Northwest Passage. In 1845 two British ships set sail the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror to find the Northwest Passage. They were led by John Franklin an experienced explorer of the Arctic. They were never seen again. They become trapped in ice near King William Island just north of the Arctic Circle. They attempted to walk south. A search initiated in 1850 found evidence of this attempt and a few graves but not of Franklin. Some Inuits apparently know of this attempt and gave the approximate location of the ships that had sunk. These were recently discovered.

The reason for the failure of the men to survive is believed to have several causes including botulism, lead poisoning from poorly made food tins as well as pneumonia and tuberculosis. In one of the search explorations in 1854, Inuit hunters told of cannibalism. Cannibalism was verified recently from blade cuts on bones.

There was a TV documentary on this some time ago (2006?). I see that there are now quite a few videos currently available..
 
The NW passage was not successfully navigated until Roald Amundsen's 1903-05 voyage. He stayed for two winters at what is today Gjoa Haven and learned the arctic survival skills from the Inuit that later enabled him to reach the South Pole
 
Hornbein said:
On the way they encountered a rogue wave. The boats had been covered with wood so they survived, but they say Shackleton was never the same after that.
Who says that?

Hornbein said:
This record for huge wave survival was smashed in an Alaskan fjord when a yacht survived a five hundred foot wave caused by a massive landslide.
I assume you are talking about the 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami. There was damage to trees over 1700 feet in the narrow inlet where it started but the wave rapidly diminished in height as the bay widened and by the time it reached the three fishing boats (not yachts; one of the three survived) anchored near the mouth of the bay it was much less than 500 feet (eywitness accounts imply between 50-150 feet).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lituya_Bay is a good start point for information.
 
Hornbein said:
In the 19th century the British Navy tried to sail ships through the Northwest Passage. The main obstacle was that the wind would drive pack ice against the northern shore of Canada. No ship could withstand a large berg.

The ships usually got stuck in the ice for years, leaving plenty of time for exploration. Once they found a chunk of ice eight feet tall and forty feet in circumference, five hundred feet from the shore. A buildup of ice pressure must have caused it to splinter off and fly all that distance.
I reread the book and discovered I was mistaken. The distance was five hundred yards.