Sailors of 180-Year-Old Arctic Shipwreck Resorted to Cannibalism, Ate Captain

Nearly 180 years after two ships embarked on an ill-fated mission to chart the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic, a grim detail has surfaced about the tragic journey.

The two vessels, HMS *Erebus* and HMS *Terror*, set off from Kent, England, on May 19, 1845, but the expedition soon took a dark turn. Five crew members fell ill and had to leave midway through the mission. Eventually, both ships became trapped in the unforgiving Arctic ice, leaving the crew in dire circumstances. In a desperate attempt to survive, 105 crew members abandoned the ships in search of help. Tragically, many of them perished before they could escape. In total, 129 sailors lost their lives.

Indigenous accounts and subsequent findings confirmed the grim fate of the survivors. Evidence shows that those who held on the longest resorted to cannibalism to survive, consuming the remains of their fallen comrades.

A recent discovery has revealed that one of the victims of cannibalism was Captain James Fitzjames of the *Erebus*, according to a report by Gizmodo.

Researchers have been analyzing human bones and teeth recovered from King William Island, where over 100 crew members fled after abandoning their ships. In one area, they unearthed 451 bones belonging to 13 individuals. Scientists from Canada’s University of Waterloo and Lakehead University used DNA analysis to identify the remains.

By comparing DNA from the recovered bones with the genetic profiles of living descendants of the sailors, the research team published their findings in the *Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports*. Stephen Fratpietro, from Lakehead University’s Paleo-DNA lab, explained, “We worked with a good quality sample that allowed us to generate a Y-chromosome profile, and we were lucky enough to obtain a match.”

Fitzjames, a senior officer, had documented the death of Sir John Franklin, the expedition’s commander, before he himself died. After his death, records indicate that the remaining crew members resorted to eating his remains. Cut marks found on his jawbone suggest an attempt to consume him for survival.

So far, two individuals from the doomed expedition have been identified. In 2021, the remains of John Gregory, a warrant officer from the *Erebus*, were also successfully matched through DNA analysis.

Both ships were rediscovered in recent years: the *Erebus* in 2014 and the *Terror* in 2016.