HMS Investigator (1848)

HMS Enterprise (left) and HMS Investigator (right)
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Investigator
Builder:	Scott's, Greenock
Cost:	£25,337
Acquired:	February 1848
Fate:	Abandoned 3 June 1853
Notes:	Fitted for Arctic service by R. & H. Green
General characteristics
Class and type:	Survey vessel
Tons burthen:	422–480 tons (builder's measure)
Length:	118 ft 0 in (35.97 m)
Beam:	28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)
Depth of hold:	18 ft 11 in (5.77 m)
Sail plan:	Barque-rigged

HMS Investigator was a merchant ship purchased in 1848 to search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. She made two voyages to the Arctic and had to be abandoned in 1853 after becoming trapped in the ice. Her wreckage was found in July 2010 on Banks Island, in the Beaufort Sea. She was the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.

Built at Scotts of Greenock on the Firth of Clyde and running 422 tonnes, Investigator was purchased by the Admiralty in February 1848 and was fitted for Arctic exploration by R. & H. Green at Blackwall Yard on the River Thames.

She was strengthened for Arctic service by William M. Rice, Master Shipwright of Woolwich Dockyard. She was extensively strengthened with timber (teak, English oak, Canadian elm) and  ⁵⁄₁₆ inch (8 mm) steel plating. Ten pairs of iron diagonal riders were set in the hold, with ten pairs of diagonal plates on the sides of the vessel between decks. To cope with snow and ice loads, the upper decks were doubled with 3-inch (76 mm) fir planking. Preston's Patent Ventilating Illuminators were installed to improve light and ventilation. Sylvester's Warming Apparatus, a modern stove system capable of warming the entire ship, was also employed with good results. The same or similar device had been used by William Edward Parry in 1821 to prevent condensation and aerate the lowest deck.

Later in 1848, she accompanied Enterprise on James Clark Ross's expedition to find the missing Sir John Franklin. Also aboard Investigator on this expedition was the naturalist Edward Adams. She was commanded for the return voyage by Robert McClure, but became trapped in the ice, and was abandoned on 3 June 1853 in Mercy Bay, where she had been stuck for nearly three years. The following year, she was inspected by crews of Resolute, still frozen in, and reported to be in fair condition despite having taken on some water during the summer thaw.