2. The condition of HMS Terror (New Data).

The wreck of HMS Terror was found in Terror Bay in September 2016.        Captain David Woodman (pers. comm. August 2019) has very kindly provided the following details of the wreck.

‘Terror lies in 24m of water, upright on a hard substrate.  Her gunwale stands 6m proud of the bottom. Although I have her profile plan somewhere in storage, I haven’t done the calculation, but images show that, as with almost all ocean-going vessels, her freeboard (waterline to deck) measurement is significantly less than her draft (keel to waterline).  We know from Whalefish letters that she was considered ‘very deep’ at 17-foot draft, so generously we could give her a keel to deck height of twice that (10m). These measurements show, as was verified by the Parks video that very little of her hull has penetrated the bottom, most of it visible (surprisingly there is no damage).  The masts all lie off the starboard side, broken off leaving stumps (tallest is 5m) and still largely attached to rigging points on the ship. This strongly indicates that the ship did heel far to starboard when sinking and that the rigging could no longer support the masts, rather than having been broken by ice motion.  The ice motion that stripped Erebus of her masts also took them away from the wreck.

All doors and hatches are shut and secured.  There are booms lying on the deck in a longitudinal direction on the centreline – both indications that she was in “winter quarters” when she sank (the booms would have supported the deck awning). Topmasts would not have been rigged.’

At present (summer 2019) divers have not yet entered the Terror wreck but a number of observations have been made. A video camera has revealed intact crew quarters, a mess hall and a food storage room. At least four anchors are still aboard the ship, but the ship was not at anchor when she sank.  This is known because both bow anchor cables are still secured to the two bow anchors that are still lashed to the bulwarks.  The propeller was not installed at the time the ship sank.  The rudder is missing. The ships bell has fallen from the belfry and lay upon the deck. Two water closets (washrooms) are present on the rear deck.  The door to one is open.  On deck the windlass is displaced and a cable is still wrapped around it. One cannon lies on the upper deck but there is no carriage.  In the stern gallery more window panes are broken than are intact.

Captain Woodman has supplied further information (pers comm. July 2019):

‘Terror is not anchored to the bottom, in fact she is in water too deep for efficient anchoring (although she might have been ice anchored). I have been shown on the chart where she lies, unfortunately I am sworn to secrecy by a promise to Parks Canada.  I can attest that she is well inside the bay, and that so far no-one, including experts in local ice drift and formation, thinks that she got there without human direction (and shore tents would be visible from the ship’s position).’

Captain Woodman has also added:

‘The missing rudder could of course have been stripped during a long journey in the ice. The likelihood however is that it was unshipped, (there is another secured to the deck, although this is possibly a spare).’

Parks Canada divers have observed that the propeller of Terror is lowered into the position of use. This suggests that the engine was in use when the ship was frozen in.

In summary, Parks Canada divers have described the wreck of Terror. When she sank she was locked up with all doors and hatches secured. She is not anchored.  There are no boats. The rudder is missing.  The propeller is stowed.  The ship was an unoccupied derelict. She had been turned onto her starboard side so that her three masts were broken off, but still attached to the hull by the rigging.   The ship was rigged for winter quarters when she sank. Yet the propeller is in the lowered position for use.

QUESTION. Inut Sammy Kogvit when aboard the private Arctic Research Foundation vessel Martin Bergmann (a converted trawler) reported that some six years earlier he had seen a mast sticking out of the ice in Terror Bay.  This led to the unexpected discovery of HMS Terror.  However the broken masts stumps lie well below sea level, so what did Sammy Kovit see when he found a mast in the ice of Terror Bay? Was it a drifted tree trunk stripped of its bark?

• This topic was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by John Roobol.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Admin.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Admin.