A dramatic watercolour depicting the largest scale, and final, Admiralty effort to rescue the lost men of Sir John Franklin from the Arctic regions. This picture, retained by the captain of HMS Resolute, shows the fleet of five vessels with their two supply ships, off the northwestern-most tip of mainland Scotland.
Sir Edward Belcher was an experienced naval surveyor, when in 1852, he was tasked with leading an exploratory squadron of Arctic veterans through the Bering Strait. They were in search of not just the crews of Erebus and Terror, who by this point had not been sighted since entering Baffin Bay in July 1845, but also those of the previous search expeditions in Investigator and Enterprise, whose own fates were unknown.
The fleet comprised barques Assistance (Sir Edward Belcher) and Resolute (Henry Kellett), steam tenders Pioneer (Sherard Osborn) and Intrepid (Sir Leopold McClintock), as well as the depot ship North Star (William Pullen). Also depicted in the present watercolour are steam support vessels Basilisk and Desperate who provided towage through the North Sea, and accompanied the squadron as far as the ice.
The artist, George Frederick McDougall (c.1825-1871) served as masted on the Resolute, and authored a memoir titled The eventful voyage of HM discovering ship Resolute, published in 1857 and illustrated with prints after his own drawings. The woodcut vignette heading chapter 1 echoes the present watercolour, though it does not include the two support ships. The moment is described in his narrative: “The departure of the squadron must have formed rather an imposing spectacle from the shore: the “Basilisk,” with “Assistance” in tow, took the lead, followed by the tenders, then came the “Desperate” and “Resolute,” whilst the “North Star,” under sail, brought up the rear. […] We then proceeded in two divisions, – the “Basilisk,” towing the “Assistance,” “Intrepid” and “Pioneer,” formed a first division. whilst the second was composed of the “Desperate,” “Resolute,” and “North Star.” Steering so as to pass to the southward of the Nunbank; the light on Cape Wrath was observed at 3 A.M. on Thursday 29th, and the point passed at 8 A.M. within five miles, with a smooth sea and moderate easterly breeze” (McDougall, 9-10).
The core five ships (less Basilisk and Desperate) entered Baffin Bay in August of 1852. Upon reaching Beechey Island (where Horatio Austin’s 1850-51 expedition had found traces of the Franklin crews’ first winter camp) the Squadron split into two pairs, with the supply ship North Star remaining moored at Beechey as a base. Assistance and Pioneer headed north up Wellington Channel, whilst Resolute and Intrepid ventured westward along the Parry Channel, overwintering off the south coast of Melville Island. The following spring each ship conducted exploratory sledging journeys, with one of Resolute’s parties locating McClure and the crew of Investigator.
By August of 1853, the majority of the squadron were once again locked in the ice. When the spring thaw of 1854 did not release them, Sir Edward Belcher gave orders to abandon the four ships and evacuate to the North Star. In spite of its unpopularity, this order was followed, and the men of Assistance, Pioneer, Intrepid, Resolute as well as the rescued crew of Investigator, all marched by foot and sledge to Beechey Island, where in August of 1854 they evacuated the Arctic with the assistance of relief ships Phoenix and Talbot.
The order to abandon so many of the Admiralty’s ships was a controversial one, and Belcher came under much criticism for this decision, not least from his fellow captains. Though Belcher made Admiral in 1872, he did not lead another expedition.
Provenance: Captain Kellett, and then by family descent.
George Frederick McDougall, The Eventful Voyage of H. M. Discovery Ship “Resolute” to the Arctic Regions In Search of Sir John Franklin. London, 1854.
