The Franklin Expedition set off to the Arctic, to collect magnetic data, with a party of 128 men in May, 1845, in two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with iron-reinforced bows and new-fangled steam-powered screw propellers. They never returned:
There are several things that contributed to the loss of the Franklin expedition. Franklin was of a breed of imperial officers who believed in the subjugation of nature by civilization. He and his men carried silver plates, crystal decanters, and many extraneous personal effects with them. They attempted to haul much of this heavy gear along with them even after abandoning the ships. They were unwilling or unable to learn survival techniques from the natives. Moreover, their expedition was a naval one, not equipped for hiking over land, so none of the sailors had thick boots or jackets. Their ships were locked in the ice for two winters running as a result of an unsually cold period that did not allow the icebound passages to melt in the summer of 1846. The party’s morale and cohesion was damaged by psychological effects of lead poisoning from the solder that sealed their tinned food supply. This has been confirmed by lead found in both skeletal and soft tissue remains of expedition sailors conducted by Dr. Owen Beattie of the University of Alberta. They also were weakened by internal bleeding from scurvy after the first two years when the preventive lemon juice they carried lost its potency. The Inuit witnesses had reported that crew members exhibited the blackened mouth and bruised skin typical of that disease. There is evidence of cut marks found on bones from some of the crew, that suggests conditions were so dire that some resorted to cannibalism. In the end, it was likely a combination of poor planning, bad weather, poisoned food, and ultimately starvation that killed them.
Because the expedition was so well stocked — they had 8,000 tins of food — it was assumed that they could survive comfortably amidst the ice, and the large reward for their rescue was not offered for two years.