HMS Erebus was a Royal Navy polar exploration vessel, formerly a bomb vessel. She was the flagship of Sir John Franklin's expedition to find the Northwest Passage, under the command of Franklin and later Captain James Fitzjames.
History[]
Erebus was launched in 1826 at Pembroke Dock, South Wales. She spent her early years doing patrols along the Turkish coast and saw no action in terms of military combat. From 1839 to 1843, she participated in Sir James Clark Ross' Antarctic expedition, along with the older HMS Terror, who had been to the Arctic three years prior.
In The Show[]
Erebus first appears in Episode 1. She becomes crippled when a chunk of ice is lodged in her rudder. Due to her injury Terror takes lead position but both ships become ice-locked in September, 1846. They remain stuck together and She and Terror are both abandoned in April, 1848 and both sink sometime before 1850.
In The Book[]
In the novel Erebus is crushed by the ice and it's occupants move to Terror.
Trivia[]
- Erebus was the first of Sir John's ships to have been discovered.
- Erebus is named for the Greek god of darkness. An image of his face is present on both her stern and on her wheel.