In my last post, I revealed that my Terror model would be displayed in the “Death in the Ice”
exhibition, now showing at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. On July
13th, I was fortunate to see the exhibition at a private event for
experts, dignitaries, and those who had contributed knowledge or items to the
exhibition. I was very impressed by the show, which provides a detailed review
of the history of the expedition and tracks the fascinating trail of clues recovered
by myriad Franklin searchers, culminating in the identification of HMS Erebus and Terror by Parks Canada.
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| Accompanying the exhibition is a beautiful display of 129 flags, one for each crew member of the Franklin Expedition. The flags for Franklin and Crozier can be seen in the front row. |
My model is placed relatively early in the show, in a
section detailing the construction and outfitting of the expedition’s ships.
Remarkably, it is surrounded by some of the greatest art and technical plans
associated with Erebus and Terror.
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| The case containing my model. On the left is the original 1839 Admiralty builder's model of HMS Erebus; my Terror is on the right. A large scale reproduction of the 1839 cross section plan for Terror and Erebus is placed at the back of the case. |
In my previous post, I outlined that my model is not yet
complete because I intentionally paused construction for the show. Currently, my
Terror is a slightly more detailed
version of a “builder’s model,” and is missing many fittings. The reason for
this can now be revealed; my Terror
is displayed in the same case as the original 1839 Admiralty builder’s model of
Erebus. The exhibition team wished to
show the differences in size between the two ships and, in particular, the new
fittings installed for the 1845 polar expedition when compared to the 1839
configuration. For this reason, they requested that Terror approach the same level of detail as the 1839 builder’s
model.
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| A view from their bows . |
I admit a degree of anxiety came with this great
opportunity. My version of Terror is
modeled at the standard 1:48 Admiralty scale, the same as the builder’s model
of Erebus. However, my plans are
custom hybrids created by concatenating details from multiple plans spanning a
33-year period, with additional alterations based on contemporary historical sources.
I had measured, scaled, remeasured, and measured again to ensure the scale and
dimensions were correct, but I still worried that something was amiss. I had nightmares that museum staff would open
the packing crate only to find that my Terror
was larger than Erebus, or had the
wrong bow shape, or some other fatal flaw.
I’m happy to say that my Terror
appears to have just the right proportions, with all the necessary similarities
and differences to Erebus. It is
slightly smaller than Erebus in
length, height, and breadth, but with nearly identical curves and lines, and
with the characteristic difference in bow shape. In short, all appears as it
should be.
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| A view from the stern. |
It is sincerely humbling to have my Terror displayed next to the 178-year-old model of Erebus. The list of famous Royal Navy
explorers and shipwrights who studied and touched this object is astonishing; a
very truncated list includes Sir James Clark Ross, Francis Crozier, Sir
John Franklin, Sir John Ross, Sir Edward Belcher, Sir William Parry, Oliver
Lang, John Rice, and Sir John Barrow. Sir Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon
Scott are also thought to have consulted the plans and models of Erebus and Terror before outfitting their ships for the Antarctic. I’m frankly
overwhelmed that my model is now breathing the same air as this incredible
object of history.
