The Search for the Northwest Passage
Find out more
There are a great number of websites on the Northwest Passage, a very large proportion of which are concerned with the Franklin expedition. Below is just a selection.
General
Exploration of the Northwest Passage
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/arctic/explore/intro.htm
A collection of pages about almost every major explorer in the region.
The Search for the North-West Passage: 1497-1845
www.victorianweb.org/history/franklin/nwp.html
A short account of the search. Part of the Victorian Web, on which is also a fairly extensive article on the probable fate of the Franklin expedition.
North-West Passage
www.nmm.ac.uk/searchbin/searchs.pl?topic=ic0021f
&axis=me0005b&flash=true&dev=
Part of the UK’s National Maritime Museum website. Click on the list and you’ll find links to photographs of over 40 relevant objects in the museum’s collection, including one of the soup tins that may have led to the Franklin expedition becoming poisoned. There are also a number of maps.
Maps of the Northwest Passage
www.athropolis.com/map9.htm#5
Seven maps showing the routes of various explorers, including that of the USS Nautilus, the first submarine to cross the North Pole.
Arctic Exploration and History
www.allthingsarctic.com/exploration/index.aspx
Timeline and articles on explorers from Amundsen to Stefansson, plus one on the Northwest Passage itself.
Pathfinders & Passageways: The exploration of Canada
www.collectionscanada.ca/explorers/index-e.html
There is much on the search for the Northwest Passage throughout this site, particularly in the section ‘The Arctic and More’.
They Came to Canada
www.hpedsb.on.ca/sg/quinte/exploring_canada.htm
Links to ‘over 125 links to over 60 explorers, both famous and not so famous’. There is an entire section on ‘Arctic explorers and the Northwest Passage’.
Arctic Explorers
www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/arctic.shtml
Short biographies of 11 explorers, plus some maps and links to further information.
Individual explorers
John Cabot
www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/cabot.html
Sebastian Cabot
www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/sebcabot.html
Detailed articles about the two explorers, on the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage site. Especially good for their examination of the claims for John Cabot’s first voyage.
Sir Martin Frobisher
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/
pirates/piratesfrobisher.html
Concise biography of the failed explorer, part of Channel 4’s Elizabeth’s Pirates microsite.
Martin Frobisher
www.cdli.ca/CITE/exfrobisher.htm
Site produced by the Gander Academy, comprising a dozen links to other sites, accompanied by brief descriptions.
Henry Hudson
www.ianchadwick.com/hudson
Extremely detailed website devoted to the explorer (including a short story!).
Franklin Expedition
www.athropolis.com/links/franklin.htm
Portal site with 11 sites of varying quality about the explorer and the mystery behind the disappearance of him and his crew. Includes an archaeology game in which players are asked to locate items left behind by the expedition.
Jane Franklin Collection
www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/0407jlf.html
Short biography of Lady Franklin plus a list of the items once owned by her and now kept at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge.
Dr Elisha Kent Kane
www.ekkane.org/Biographies/BioKane.htm
Biography of this explorer who lived a fascinating, if short, life. This article is part of the Elisha Kent Kane Historical Society website, which includes a expansive biography of Sir John Franklin (plus a link that allows you to listen to ‘Lady Franklin’s Lament’).
Dr John Rae – Orkney's greatest unsung hero
www.orkneyjar.com/history/historicalfigures/johnrae/
A substantial site that aims to restore Rae’s reputation.
Roald Amundsen
www.framheim.com/Amundsen/RAMain.html
A detailed and well-illustrated biography of the explorer. Part of the site is incomplete, but Amundsen’s
achievement with the Northwest Passage is included in full.
Undersea exploration
Low Road to the Pole
www.amphilsoc.org/library/exhibits/nautilus/intro.htm
An account of the first attempt to traverse the Arctic (via the North Pole) by submarine in 1931.
History of the USS Nautilus (SSN-571)
www.ussnautilus.org/history.html
Another recounting of the 1958 successful crossing of the North Pole by submarine. Part of the website of the US Navy Submarine Force Museum, in Groton, Connecticut, where the Nautilus can still be seen.
