Divers Discovered A Forgotten Shipwreck, And What Lay Inside May Solve A Centuries-Old Mystery

Divers slide into the chilly waters of the Canadian Arctic’s Terror Bay. There, they descend to the astonishingly well-preserved shipwreck of HMS Terror. Now, it was one of two ships that departed from England and mysteriously disappeared on the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845. Next, the divers insert a small remotely controlled vehicle (ROV) with a camera through an open hatch. And now they have a clear view of the ship’s interior. Startlingly, they’re the first to see it in over 170 years.

In diving footage taken in August 2019 by the ROV, the scenes at 80 feet down are both entrancing and haunting. In the ship’s mess, plates and cups are still in place on the shelves, surrounded by heaps of silt. Furthermore, the ROV reveals a corridor containing the officers’ cabins on each side, complete with bunks and chamber pots.