Explorers searched for the North-West Passage for over 400 years, many of whom lost their lives in the process. Each expedition built on the knowledge of those that went before, learning from success and failure.

The expeditions below are a selection of the many that set out to find the North-West Passage, each hoping to find the fame and fortune that locating the passage would bring.

Martin Frobisher, 1576-78

Frobisher set out in 1577 to find the North-West passage. After reaching Resolution Island Frobisher thought he may have found the entrance to the passage but had instead found a bay on the south of Baffin Island. He returned to England with ‘a piece of black stone’ thought to contain gold. Frobisher’s second and third expeditions were sent out to bring back more gold. It was later discovered that the ‘black stone’ was fools gold.

Henry Hudson, 1610-11

Henry Hudson set out in 1610 for the North-West passage. His ship was swept by tides into the Hudson Strait. The strait was between two capes which he named Cape Wolstenholme and Cape Digges (the names of his investors) and there he observed ‘a sea to the westward’ (Hudson Bay). Hudson wanted to continue westwards but his crew mutinied and set him and his son adrift in a small boat, never to be seen again.

William Baffin, 1615-16

William Baffin set out in 1615 to find the North-West passage. On his first voyage Baffin mapped the south coast of Baffin Island and sailed to the north of Southampton Island. Baffin concluded that the body of water they had entered was a dead end and returned to England. On his second expedition Baffin travelled up the Davis Strait and sailed north into what is now appropriately named Baffin Bay. However, impassable ice further north eventually halted progress. Before returning to England the mouths of various straits were explored, notably Lancaster Sound.

James Cook, 1776-78

James Cook set out in 1776 in search of the North-West passage. He attempted the passage from the Pacific rather than the Atlantic side discovering the Hawiian islands and charting part of the North American Pacific coastline on his way. The expedition carried the ships round the Alaskan peninsula and through the Bering Strait where they turned east. In mid-August they were halted by impenetrable ice at Icy Cape and were forced to turn back.

John Ross, 1818 and 1829-33

John Ross set out in 1818, under orders of the Admiralty, to find the North-West passage. Ross explored Baffin Bay, rediscovering much of what Baffin had found. Ross entered Lancaster Sound but concluded it was not part of the passage after claiming he twice observed a ridge of high mountains enclosing the inlet. He decided to turn back and head for home. The mountains turned out to be a mirage.

On his second voyage in 1829, Ross was keen remedy his mistake of believing a mirage. Ross investigated Prince Regent Inlet and conducted several overland expeditions to determining the geography of the Boothia Penisula and King William Island. Notably he located the position of the magnetic North pole at the time.

William Parry, 1818-19, 1821-23 and 1824-25

William Parry set out in 1819, under orders of the Admiralty, to find the North-West passage. The expedition sailed through the Barrow Strait and onto Melville Island and established that a westward route existed through Lancaster Sound and began to map the numerous islands through which the passage could lie. Parry’s second voyage in 1821 he sailed through the Hudson Straight and into the Foxe Basin. Here he investigated Repulse Bay and the coast of the Melville Peninsula.

John Franklin,  1819-22 and 1825-27

John Franklin set out in 1819, under orders from the Admiralty to map the north coast of North America. Franklin made his way north towards the Coppermine River but he was hampered by inadequate supplies. Men were sent eastwards in canoes and reached Turnagain Point on Kent peninsula. Franklin’s second expedition reached the North American coast at the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Franklin and his colleagues charted over 1000 miles of the North American coast. It was on Franklin’s third expedition that he and his men set out and were never heard of again.

John Franklin, 1845

It was on Franklin’s third expedition that he and his men set out and were never heard of again. In late July 1845 Franklin’s ships were seen by a whaler in Baffin Bay, waiting for ice to clear in Lancaster Sound and make their way through the Bering Strait. No one from the expedition was ever seen again. and make their way through the Bering Strait. No one from the expedition was ever seen again.

Robert McClure, 1850-54

Robert McClure set out in 1850 in search of Franklin. He approached the search from the Pacific through the Bering Strait and discovered the Prince of Wales Strait. During the winter McClure went on an overland expedition across Banks Island to a high vantage point on the north coast. It was here that the North-West Passage was discovered, for McClure’s party could clearly see Melville Island and the frozen waters of Melville Sound. McClure was the first man to navigate the North-West Passage, although much of his journey had been across ice, not water.

Roald Amundsen, 1903-06

Road Amundsen set out to find the North-West passage in 1903. He was the first person to sail through the North-West Passage. He sailed through Lancaster Sound, Barrow Strait and Beechey Island. He then passed through Simpson Strait to the south of King William Island and on to the Bering Strait.