The Franklin expedition (1845–48) was a British mission led by Sir John Franklin to find the Northwest Passage through Canada and gather magnetic data for navigation. It became one of polar exploration’s worst disasters when all 129 crew members and officers of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror died under mysterious circumstances.
After two years without word from Franklin and at the behest of Lady Jane Franklin, the wife of John Franklin, the British navy launched an extensive search. They found a few artifacts and scattered human remains, revealing the men suffered from starvation, scurvy, and lead poisoning, possibly from contaminated tin cans. Some bones suggested cannibalism. In 2014 and 2016, the wrecks of the Erebus and Terror were found in the Arctic waters of Canada.