It was Franklin who later captained Erebus on its final mission (by then installed with a steam-driven, screw-propeller system), a doomed assault on the Northwest Passage, the fabled trade route to the riches of Cathay, again accompanied by the loyal Terror. On its way south, the three-masted Erebus had stopped off at Tasmania, then Van Diemen’s Land, and met the useless Lt Governor John Franklin. They didn’t make their goal of the south magnetic pole but, writes Palin, “never again, in the annals of the sea, would a ship, under sail alone, come close to matching what she and Terror had achieved”. It is hard to imagine what the Erebus crew thought and felt as they sailed along the 30-metre (98ft) high ice cliffs of this shelf the size of France.Įrebus and Terror were the first sailing ships to break through the pack and the first to discover that an Antarctic continent existed. The crew enjoyed a double allowance of rum to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday. In September 1839, accompanied by HMS Terror, it dropped her pilot off Deal in Kent and spent four years on an Antarctic adventure, where the dashing James Clark Ross captained her to the Barrier, or the Ross ice shelf as it was then known. Erebus spent two years patrolling the Mediterranean “to annoy the Turks”, then its life as a warship ended. After Waterloo, the navy was at a loose end.
Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.Palin is strong on historical context. Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.’ – The Times Fascinating.’ – Lorraine Kelly, ITV Lorraine
‘I absolutely loved it: I had to read it at one sitting. This beautifully produced volume – colour plates, outstanding maps – is a landmark achievement.’ – Ken McGoogan, author of Fatal Passage He turns up obscure facts, reanimates essential moments, and never shies away from taking controversial positions. ‘Palin is a superb stylist, low-key and conversational, who skillfully incorporates personal experience. The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we’ve all been waiting for.’ – Nicholas Crane
Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.’ – Sunday Times Vividly recounting the experiences of the men who first set foot on Antarctica’s Victoria Land, and those who, just a few years later, froze to death one by one in the Arctic ice, beyond the reach of desperate rescue missions, Erebus is a wonderfully evocative account of a truly extraordinary adventure, brought to life by a master explorer and storyteller. The ship was filled with fascinating people: the dashing and popular James Clark Ross, who charted much of the ‘Great Southern Barrier’ the troubled John Franklin, whose chequered career culminated in the Erebus's final, disastrous expedition and the eager Joseph Dalton Hooker, a brilliant naturalist – when he wasn't shooting the local wildlife dead. Michael Palin – Monty Python star and television globetrotter – brings the remarkable Erebus back to life, following it from its launch in 1826 to the epic voyages of discovery that led to glory in the Antarctic and to ultimate catastrophe in the Arctic. In 1848, it disappeared in the Arctic, its fate a mystery. HMS Erebus was one of the great exploring ships, a veteran of groundbreaking expeditions to the ends of the Earth.
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