A wooden-handled steel gimlet

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A wooden handled steel gimlet from the 1845 British Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The steel shank is slightly corroded but the screw end is still discernable.

The gimlet was one of two found at the boat site in Erebus Bay by Captain F. L. McClintock's sledge team on 30 May 1859, as part of the search expedition led by McClintock The site had been visited and partially investigated by Lt. William Hobson on 24 May but his report does not list everything he saw or removed. McClintock records 'a gimlet'. [McClintock, Voyage of the Fox (1859), page 366].

The gimlet was displayed at the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, Case 2, No. 75. 'Gimlets', and still retains the pasted '75' on the handle. The item is not shown in 'Stereoscopic slides of the relics of Sir John Franklin's Expedition' photographed by Lieutenant Cheyne RN, at the United Services Museum, Whitehall, No. 5.

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Object Details

ID:	AAA2219
Collection:	Polar Equipment and Relics
Type:	Gimlet
Display location:	Not on display
Creator:	Unknown
Events:	Arctic Exploration: Franklin's Last Expedition, 1845-1848; Arctic Exploration: Franklin Search Expedition, McClintock, 1857-1859
Vessels:	Fox (1855)
Date made:	Before 1845
Credit:	National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Measurements:	127 x 57 x 19 mm