A full hull block model built at a scale of 1:48 of HMS ‘Erebus’, launched in 1826. The model is decked with some fittings and the hull is complete with the additional planking at the bow and around the waterline to prevent damage and crushing by the pack ice. Originally built as one of the ‘Hecla’ class bomb vessels at Pembroke Dockyard, the hull measured 105 feet in length by 28 feet in the beam and had a tonnage of 372, builder’s measurement.

After only two years' service, the ‘Erebus’ was selected along with the ‘Terror’ for an Antarctic expedition (1839-43) under the command of James Clark Ross. Amongst the many objectives of this expedition, two of importance were to measure the earth’s magnetic field in the southern hemisphere and to locate the south magnetic pole. This and another model, SLR0832, were both formerly believed to depict the ‘Terror’ (See Royal Naval College Museum Catalogue p. 12).