![]() But back then you really did just sail off to the end of the Earth,” and once you’d left behind your supply ships, pilots and tugs at the furthest point possible from home, there was no way of communicating with your operational base.” You always know where you are because you’ve got GPS. “You can’t do that now, because nowhere’s unknown. Palin says that his book is an attempt to find out what really happened to the expedition’s flagship Erebus in particular: “What was she like? What did she achieve? How did she survive so much, only to disappear so mysteriously?”īoth the Antarctic and North-West Passage expeditions “took enormous risks to challenge the perception of what was possible at the time.” He says that one of his motivations for writing the book was to get inside the mindset of explorers who were literally sailing into the unknown. “They flew a little too close to the sun, and that was the worst disaster in British naval history.” With both Erebus and her companion ship Terror lost in what is now the Canadian Arctic, Britain’s quest to establish a global trading route through the North-West Passage, foundered with the loss of all 129 hands. While the Ross expedition was, according to Palin, “an extraordinary piece of work,” Erebus’s next, and last, expedition to the North-West Passage – now known simply as the Franklin Expedition – was a different matter entirely. An accessible and highly readable retelling of a tale of the sea that will be a familiar yarn to exploration aficionados, but a revelation to those who aren’t. From its origins in a shipyard in South Wales to its final expedition in search of the North-West Passage, Palin vividly recounts the experiences of the crew who first stepped ashore on Antarctica’s Victoria Land, and who froze to death in the Arctic. ‘Erebus: The Story of a Ship’ is Michael Palin’s biography of the ‘bomb’ vessel that was to inspire stories of catastrophe, heroism, cannibalism and discovery. The mystery came to an end in September 2014 when a team of archaeologists and wreck-hunters found the remains of the scientific research and exploration vessel at the seabed in the Canadian Arctic. The whole project was a triumph.įor a century-and-a-half the exact location of the presumed wreck of HMS Erebus had been one of the great riddles of both Arctic exploration and the maritime world. By the time the Ross expedition was over, Erebus had taken her crew further south than any humans had ever been before, not once, but several times. Says Palin: “It was a perfect time to explore the world and it was a great time to do our best work.”Īs a repurposed survey ship, Erebus’s first forays of note were into the Antarctic during the highly successful Ross Expedition (led by James Clark Ross) that was to ascertain (if not quite reach) the location of the South Magnetic Pole, while making geological recordings (including the active volcano Erebus, named in honour of the ship), botanical discoveries and coordinated magnetic observations. Victorian Britain celebrated scientific discovery proudly, so while Erebus may have been designed and build specifically as a warship, she was refitted following the close of the Napoleonic Wars in the early part of the 19th century to make her one of the best scientifically equipped ships the Navy had ever built. This is because ‘Erebus: The Story of a Ship’ is from a credentialed expert, as caringly wrought and expertly made as the ship the author describes. ![]() Those thinking that Palin’s contribution to the literature of exploration is something of a retirement project from a former comic actor with time on his hands should think again. But what might not be quite so well known is that he recently served a stint in the prestigious role of President of the Royal Geographical Society. This passion will come as no surprise to fans of Palin’s many television travel and adventure documentaries that have been a fixture for decades. ‘Erebus: The Story of a Ship’ does exactly what it says on the label, and while many of the stories related to what is, after all, something of a celebrity ship in exploration circles, will be familiar to those in the know, Palin’s book is nonetheless a gripping read from a writer with a real passion for geographical discovery. A ship that roamed the most perilous corners of the globe, was lost and then found. Not just of life and death, but life and death and a sort of resurrection.” The result is his ripping yarn of the sea, a biography of a ship that was to play an important, if ultimately tragic, role in the exploration of both the southern and northern Polar Regions in the 19th century. ![]() When in 2014 the news broke that HMS Erebus had been found at the bottom of the sea in the Canadian Arctic, Michael Palin’s first thoughts were: “I knew that there was a story to be told.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |