HMS Terror (1813)

HMS Terror in the Arctic
History
United Kingdom
NameTerror
Ordered30 March 1812
BuilderRobert Davy, Topsham, Devon
Laid downSeptember 1812
Launched29 June 1813
CompletedBy 31 July 1813
FateAbandoned 22 April 1848, King William Island
Wreck discovered 3 September 2016, Terror Bay
General characteristics
Class and typeVesuvius-class bomb vessel
Tons burthen325 (bm)
Length102 ft (31.09 m)
Beam27 ft (8.23 m)
Installed power30 Nominal horsepower[1]
Propulsion
Complement67
Armament
  • 1 × 13 in (330 mm) mortar
  • 1 × 10 in (254 mm) mortar
Official nameWrecks of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror National Historic Site
Designated2019

HMS Terror was a specialised warship and a newly developed bomb vessel constructed for the Royal Navy in 1813. She participated in several battles of the War of 1812, including the Battle of Baltimore with the bombardment of Fort McHenry (as mentioned in The Star-Spangled Banner: “And the Rockets’ red glare, the Bombs bursting in air”). She was converted into a polar exploration ship two decades later, and participated in George Back's Arctic expedition of 1836–1837, the successful Ross expedition to the Antarctic of 1839 to 1843, and Sir John Franklin's ill-fated attempt to force the Northwest Passage in 1845, during which she was lost with all hands along with HMS Erebus.

On 12 September 2016, the Arctic Research Foundation announced that the wreck of Terror had been found in Nunavut's Terror Bay, off the southwest coast of King William Island. The wreck was discovered 92 km (57 mi) south of the location where the ship was reported abandoned, and some 50 km (31 mi) from the wreck of HMS Erebus, discovered in 2014.

  1. ^ Bourne, John (1852). "Appendix, Table I: Dimensions Of Screw Steam Vessels In Her Majesty's Navy". A treatise on the screw propeller: with various suggestions of improvement. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. i.