When the Franklin Expedition set out from England in 1845, it was one of the best equipped expeditions in history. In the minds of the British people, it wasn't a matter of "if" it would succeed in finding the Northwest Passage, but rather "when".

When Franklin's two ships disappeared without a trace, it set off a series of search expeditions unlike anything the British had ever undertaken before. The searches became so famous that Canada even issued a stamp (almost a century and a half later) commemorating "Finding Franklin's Relics".

The search was unnecessarily long (almost 15 years), very often inept or even farcical, and expensive! How expensive?

The British government spend about £675,000, and Lady Franklin (Sir John's widow) spent another £35,000 on private searches.

The U.S. Government directed $150,000 to support the Arctic searches, and the head of the American Geographical Society contributed another $100,000.

These mid-nineteenth century amounts, adjusted for inflation, would represent about $80,000,000 in current American funds.

Neither Franklin or his ships have ever been found, but there were some benefits. By 1859, most of the North American Arctic had been mapped.

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