HMS Erebus (1826)
 One of the ships of Sir John Franklin's last expedition
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Erebus |
| Builder: | Pembroke dockyard, Wales |
| Launched: | 1826 |
| Fate: | Abandoned in Victoria Strait, Canada, 22 April 1848 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Hecla-class bomb vessel |
| Displacement: | 715.3 long tons (726.8 t; 801.1 short tons) |
| Tons burthen: | 372 tons (bm) |
| Length: | 105 ft (32 m) |
| Beam: | 29 ft (8.84 m) |
| Installed power: | 30 kW (40 hp) nhp |
| Propulsion: | |
| Complement: | 67 |
| Armament: | 1 × 13 in (330 mm) mortar, 1 × 10 in (254 mm) mortar, 8 × 24 pdr (10.9 kg) guns, 2 × 6 pdr (2.7 kg) guns |
| Official name | Erebus and Terror National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 1992 |
HMS Erebus was a Hecla-class bomb vessel designed by Sir Henry Peake and constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke dockyard, Wales in 1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in Hades of Greek mythology called Erebus. The 372-ton ship was armed with two mortars – one 13 in (330 mm) and one 10 in (254 mm) – and 10 guns. The ship took part in the Ross expedition of 1839 to 1843. She was abandoned during the Franklin Expedition and her sunken wreck was discovered in September 2014 after a long search.
After two years service in the Mediterranean Sea, Erebus was refitted as an exploration vessel for Antarctic service, and on 21 November 1840 – captained by James Clark Ross – she departed from Tasmania for Antarctica in company with Terror. In January 1841, the crew of both ships landed on Victoria Land, and proceeded to name areas of the landscape after British politicians, scientists, and acquaintances. Mount Erebus, on Ross Island, was named after one ship and Mount Terror after the other.
They then discovered the Ross Ice Shelf, which they were unable to penetrate, and followed it eastward until the lateness of the season compelled them to return to Tasmania. The following season, 1842, Ross continued to survey the "Great Ice Barrier", as it was called, continuing to follow it eastward. Both ships returned to the Falkland Islands before returning to the Antarctic in the 1842–1843 season. They conducted studies in magnetism, and returned with oceanographic data and collections of botanical and ornithological specimens. The plants were described in the resulting The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839–1843, under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross.
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