« Back to 2004 News Archive

Victory Found

THE FINAL resting place of the ill-fated ship captained by Stranraer's Sir John Ross to the Arctic has been found, it is being claimed.

According to reports, explorer Dom Mee and his team have discovered historic artefacts at the site where the Victory was trapped in ice on Sir John's attempt to find the North West Passage 172 years ago.

S-shaped ice anchors, engine parts and relics from the camp where the ship's crew were stranded for three years have been found.

A short memorial service was held and a cairn built for one of the crew who died of consumption at the site.

Victory was the first steamship to be used in an Arctic voyage. At 85 tonnes, the wooden paddle steamer was one of the smallest vessels to penetrate Arctic waters.

Sailing from the Thames in May 1829, by September of that year she became trapped in ice at Lord Mayor's Bay. After enduring three harsh winters in the Gulf of Boothia, Sir John and his crew abandoned their icebound ship and headed on foot to Baffin Island. They were rescued a year later.