History of the H.M.S. Breadalbane

The three-masted merchant ship H.M.S. Breadalbane sank under the force of ice during the early morning hours of August 21, 1853. The British ship, carrying supplies for the Franklin rescue expedition, went down in the icy waters near Beechey Island in Lancaster Sound, 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle. All 21 men aboard, including the captain, escaped unharmed to the Breadalbane's sister ship H.M.S. Phoenix.

The Breadalbane embarked from Britain in May 1853, under the command of Captain John MacKenzie and second master William Fawckner. The Breadalbane crossed the North Atlantic and Baffin Bay, then sailed into Lancaster Sound, arriving at Beechey Island in early August. Anchored off Beechey Island, the Breadalbane was immediately surrounded by drifting ice which continued to build around her in the coming days. The ice eventually tore a gash into the starboard hull of the 500-ton vessel and she sank within a span of 15 minutes.

The Breadalbane was one of an armada of ships sent by Britain over the years in a massive search for the Sir John Franklin Expedition, whose ships Erebus and Terror were last seen in July 1845. Franklin, a highly-decorated officer and one of the world's great explorers, was under orders from the British Admiralty to find the Northwest Passage - the elusive sea route between the two great oceans. Franklin, his ships, and 128 men were never found.

As for the Breadalbane, she now sits at the bottom of the sea floor under the ice of the Arctic, over 300 feet down. Discovered in August 1980, she is the "picture-perfect" shipwreck, a historic monument frozen in time. Her masts remain intact; a hole in her hull provides a glimpse into the past, revealing a cabinet, a compass, a signal lantern and other instruments of seamanship.

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