The Quest for the Northwest Passage

James P. Delgado, PhD, Director of Maritime Heritage, NOAA
The recent discovery of the intact hull of the long-lost arctic exploration ship HMS Erebus in the Arctic solved a 169-year old mystery about the disappearance of a fabled expedition. It also revived popular interest in the story of the quest for the Northwest Passage. The centuries-long quest for an ocean passage across the top of the world led to numerous expeditions that gradually, at great risk and terrible cost, charted not one but several possible routes through the maze of islands, sea and ice that is the Canadian Arctic archipelago. The "passage" was not successfully navigated until 1905, and not again until 1942. In an illustrated presentation, James Delgado tells the story of the ships, people and the landscape of the Northwest Passage, linking images and old charts to the surviving relics of one of the longest and costliest endeavors in the annals of exploration.
Presentation Slides:
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