The McClure Arctic expedition, one of many attempts to find the missing Franklin expedition, was significant for being the first to successfully discover and transit the Northwest Passage, which it accomplished west to east by boat and sledge.
Robert McClure and his crew spent three years locked in the pack ice aboard HMS Investigator before abandoning the ship and making their escape across the ice. Rescued by HMS Resolute, which was itself later lost to the ice, McClure's party traveled by sledge to Beechey Island where they met HMS North Star and returned to England in 1854, where he was knighted and rewarded for completing the passage.
The expedition discovered the first known Northwest Passage, in the geographical sense, which was the Prince of Wales Strait. It also made the first passage, or journey, across the Canadian Arctic from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. It did not, however, traverse the Prince of Wales Strait. Instead, the expedition did a portage across Banks Island, crossed the Banks Strait, Melville Sound, Barrow Strait, and then entered the Atlantic Ocean via the Parry Channel. As the expedition had been beset by numerous troubles, this second route was "discovered" haphazardly as the crew of the expedition attempted to find their way to civilization.
Today, shipping across the Northwest Passage is a rare occurrence and is not commercially viable due to the unreliability of predicting the state of sea ice in the region. The SS Manhattan, the first commercial ship to cross the Northwest Passage, used the first route that McClure discovered, the Prince of Wales Strait in 1969.
Preparation
Lady Jane Franklin pressed the search for the Franklin Expedition, missing since 1847, into a national priority. McClure had gained experience searching for the lost Franklin expedition in 1848 as the first lieutenant on HMS Enterprise under the command of James Clark Ross, but they had found no trace of the lost expedition. Faced with a continuing lack of progress, the British Admiralty, on 15 January 1850, ordered a new expedition to "obtain intelligence, and to render assistance to Sir John Franklin and his companions, and not for the purposes of geographical or scientific research," although a completion of the proposed Northwest Passage from the opposite direction would not be without merit.
Two ships were assigned to this task. Enterprise was returned to the search under Captain Richard Collinson, and Investigator under Commander Robert J. McClure in his first Arctic command. Extensive repairs were required for both ships, which had already weathered Arctic service, including the installation of a modern Sylvester's Heating Apparatus. Investigator, her figurehead representing a walrus, had been fitted with a 10-horsepower locomotive engine and strengthened extensively in 1848.
Preserved meat was secured from Gamble of Cork, Ireland, and although some spoilage was experienced, it had no major impact on the voyage (subsequently discovered to be the case with Franklin).
Double rations of preserved limes were provisioned to offset scurvy. A seven-month voyage across the Atlantic, through the Straits of Magellan, to Hawaii and through the Aleutian Islands to the Bering Strait was planned to reach the pack ice during the most ice-free Arctic season. The ships were provisioned for a three-year voyage.
The initial voyage
On 10 January 1850, the ships set out from Woolwich after a rapid preparation period, completing their loading of supplies in Plymouth on 20 January. The crew numbered 66, including German clergyman John Miertsching, who served as an interpreter to the Inuit. By 5 March, they had crossed the equator southward and slave ships were observed in the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, described by the expedition surgeon Alexander Armstrong as 'suspicious.' Their southernmost extent, the Strait of Magellan, was obtained on 15 March, Enterprise always well ahead of the slower Investigator. The two ships lost direct contact after the strait was completed, although McClure reported (by bottle-message) that he considered their company formally parted on 1 February 1850.
Continuing north through several storms, nearly 1,000 lb (450 kg) of stored biscuit was ruined by water leakage, but was later offset by fresh supplies from the Sandwich Islands. On 15 June, Investigator re-crossed the equator amid clear skies and tropical birds, already having journeyed nearly 15,000 miles. Spirits ran high, with McClure noting of the crew in his journal, "I have much confidence in them. With such a spirit what may not be expected, even if difficulties should arise?" On 1 July, they made port at Honolulu, taking on fresh provisions, and having missed Enterprise by only one day. Five days later, McClure's ship, aided by favorable winds, set out towards the Arctic Circle and passed by his consort ship and HMS Herald. By 28 July, they had reached the Arctic Circle. The crew busied themselves by readying the arctic gear as they prepared to explore the Arctic alone.
The Arctic reached
Rather than waiting to rendezvous with Enterprise, the unusual decision was made to take Investigator alone into the ice near Cape Lisburne, Alaska. On 20 July, McClure had sent a letter (via Herald) notifying the Secretary of the Admiralty of this intent, stating that since Enterprise had already detached from the expedition, proceeding on alone was the best contingency plan available to ensure the success of their mission. The ice fields were sighted on 2 August at 72°1' north. Unable to find open leads, they rounded Point Barrow, the northernmost point of Alaska, and entered unexplored waters and the first ice floes.
While Enterprise arrived at Point Barrow about two weeks after Investigator, it was unable to pass through the ice and had to turn back, wintering in Hong Kong and wasting a whole season. The two ships never made contact for the remainder of their journeys, and Enterprise carried out its own separate Arctic explorations.
On 8 August, McClure and Investigator made contact with local Inuit, who offered no news of Franklin, and were unaccustomed to seeing sailing ships. As the crew made their way along the coast east of Point Barrow, they left message cairns at each landing site and occasionally traded with local Inuit. However, they did not obtain any news about Franklin.
Contact was made with several groups of Inuit near Point Warren near the Mackenzie River, one of which reported the death of a European. It was soon determined not to be a member of Franklin's party, but that of an overland expedition of Sir John Richardson two years earlier. The ice to the north remained impenetrable, but they made Franklin Bay to the west by 3 September amid much wildlife in air and sea. After sighting an extent of Banks Island, claiming it as "Baring Land", a brief land exploration was made, presumably the first. A rock formation at a prominent cape was named Nelson Head on 7 September after its imagined resemblance to Lord Nelson. The coast was followed in hopes of access to the north.
Periods of good progress were made, until a wind change caused the ice to close in around Investigator on 10 September just as they had discovered a route of some promise, the Prince of Wales Strait. Their progress through the ice was deliberate and slow, aided at times by the use of ice anchors and saws. Daily temperatures were now around 10 °F (−12 °C). By 16 September, they had reached 73°10'N, 117°10'W, logged as her most advanced position. Just short of Barrow's Strait, the rudder was unshipped and winter preparations began. A year's worth of provisions were brought on deck in anticipation of the ship being crushed by the pack ice. The dangerously drifting pack finally ground to a halt on 23 September.
At times violently shifted by the grinding pack ice, Investigator endured just south of Princess Royal Island, the pack becoming less violent by 27 September 1850. On the last day of September, the temperature fell below 0 °F (−18 °C) for the first time, as the top-gallant masts were taken down for the winter and the last birds were observed. Periods of calm were often punctuated by violent ice movement. McClure noted, "The crushing, creaking, and straining are beyond description, and the officer of the watch, when speaking to me, is obliged to put his mouth close to my ear, on account of the deafening noise." The ship was lifted several feet, and black powder was used to blast any nearby hummocks that threatened to reach the deck.
Several explorations across the ice to land were made, and observations left McClure with no doubt as to the existence of a Northwest Passage. In mid-October, formal possession of Prince Albert's Land and several nearby islands was taken. The crew began the routines that would characterise their Winter Quarters, which included lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Hunting opportunities were sparse, although five musk oxen were taken around this time, extending rations (some lost to spoilage) with fresh meat.
The Northwest Passage
On 21 October 1850, Captain McClure embarked on a seven-man sledge trip north-east to confirm his observations of a Northwest Passage. McClure provided that confirmation upon his return on 31 October, having seen an unblocked strait to the distant Melville Island from a 600-foot peak (180 m) on Banks Island. The entry placed in the ship's log read:
"October 31st, the Captain returned at 8.30. A.M., and at 11.30. A.M., the remainder of the parting, having, upon the 26th instant, ascertained that the waters we are now in communicate with those of Barrow Strait, the north-eastern limit being in latitude 73°31′, N. longitude 114°39′, W. thus establishing the existence of a NORTH-WEST PASSAGE between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans."
First winter and summer
The sun departed on 11 November, with temperatures averaging −10 °F (−23 °C) with the below-deck temperature of 48 °F (9 °C), the crew in good health. Below deck air quality was maintained by increased ventilation and regular airing out of the quarters. The new year was welcomed in as the crew amused themselves, occasionally catching foxes or spotting seals. Winter temperatures averaged −37 °F (−38 °C), and on 3 February, the sun returned after 83 days of darkness. An emergency depot of provisions and a whaleboat were made on the nearby island. Reindeer, Arctic fox, hare, raven, wolf and a polar bear were observed as local expeditions resumed.
As spring returned, the decks of Investigator were cleared of snow and repairs begun. Additional local expeditions were mounted, but none with the object of attempting to meet with concurrent regional rescue expeditions; Resolute under Captain Horatio Austin, believed to be near Melville Island, Assistance under Captain Erasmus Ommanney, the Pioneer under Lieutenant John B. Cator, and Intrepid under Sherard Osborn as well as more distant ships under Captain William Penney, Admiral Sir John Ross, the First Grinnell expedition under Lieutenant Edwin De Haven and the overland Rae–Richardson Arctic expedition.
As the weather warmed in mid-May, additional hunting and exploration parties were sent out to supplement the dwindling provisions. Some of these parties returned with frostbitten crew members, and one had met a small group of Inuit seal hunters who lived in isolation. One party went around Banks Island and showed that it was an island. Another party was on the south shore of Victoria Island at about the same time that John Rae (explorer) passed 40 miles (64 km) to the south. No traces of Franklin were found.
Preparations were made for the ship's anticipated release from the ice. "By late June, the temperature had reached 53 °F (12 °C), but the ice still held Investigator in its grip. The ship was finally freed on 4 July sailing amidst the grinding ice near the Princess Royal Islands. Progress northward was made, the ship often attached to larger floes, and there was even some anticipation of completing the passage in that direction. However, in August, progress slowed as the ice became increasingly solid and difficult to navigate. On 14 August, they attained their northernmost position at 73°14′19″N, 115°32′30″W in the Prince of Wales Strait. It was later suggested that, if Investigator had been equipped with a screw propeller, she could have pressed the 45 miles (72 km) to Melville Island, completed the Northwest Passage, and returned home that same year.
The decision to abandon the strait and proceed around the south coast of Baring Island (his name for Banks Island) led them to open water and a wider area of search. Rounding to the north east, they continued through the loose ice until conditions compelled them to secure the ship to an iceberg for protection. Explorations of the nearby coast were made, revealing abandoned Inuit camps and the unusual discovery of petrified wood from an extensive forest at 74°27′N. As winter approached, the crew faced several close calls as they were threatened by the ice while still attached to their iceberg.