NW Passage Facts 1st European to Search for Passage Jacques Cartier (1534) 1st to Prove Passage's Existence John Franklin (1845) 1st Successful Transit Robert McClure (1854) 1st Navigated by Ship Roald Amundsen (1905) 1st Transit by Dogsled Knud Rasmussen (1912) Did you know? More than 30 vessels in search of the Northwest Passage were forced to endure unexpected winters in the Arctic and several were crushed. The disappearance of Sir John Franklin's expedition was responsible for a vast improvement in the charts of the American Arctic as numerous searches were undertaken to determine his fate. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner, St. Roch, traveled the passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and back between 1940 and 1944. U.S. Coast Guard cutters, Canadian icebreakers, and the oil tanker Manhattan (1969) have traversed the passage, but it is not now commercially useful. More vessels use the Northeast Passage along the Eurasian Arctic coast in a few years than have ever used the NW Passage.

The Northwest Passage

The search for the Northwest Passage was a long one. As early as 1534, Jacques Cartier, the French navigator, explored the St. Lawrence River looking for a passage to China. Sir Martin Frobisher discovered a body of water (Frobisher Bay) on what is now called Baffin Island in 1576 and thought it was the passage. Between 1585 and 1587, John Davis made three voyages, exploring the western shores of Greenland, Davis Strait, and Cumberland Sound. Henry Hudson reached Hudson Bay in 1610 and was abandoned there by his mutinous crew. Between 1612 and 1615, Thomas Button, Robert Bylot, and William Baffin made three voyages to Hudson Bay--searching unsuccessfully for both Henry Hudson and a passage to Asia.

By the beginning of the 19th Century, however, much of the American Arctic still remained uncharted and unknown. Whalers had not traveled far west from Greenland, knowing the waters there to be dangerous and lacking in profitable quantities of their quarry. Trading ships were still having to travel the long sea-routes around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn to reach India and China. A lot of money could be saved if a shorter way could be found. The English Royal Navy had a large fleet of expedition-ready vessels following the Napoleonic Wars and, as thousands of pounds were being offered as a prize for finding the North-West Passage, its discovery became an increasingly attractive proposition. In addition, techniques of polar travel had steadily improved and navigators became more willing to risk their vessels against the unpredictable Arctic weather and ice conditions.

Sir William Parry sailed through Lancaster Sound and through Hudson Strait to Hecla Strait (1821-23); but was stopped by ice. Sir John Franklin mounted an ambitious, ill-fated expedition that entered Lancaster Sound in July 1845; its last survivors died in 1848. More than 40 expeditions searched for Franklin's expedition, surveying most of the Arctic region. Robert McClure and his crew completed a passage from west to east in 1854, but partly by foot and sledge because of the thick ice. Not until 1903 did Roald Amundsen finally conquer the Northwest Passage by ship.

Though interest in the Passage remained through the mid-20th Century, it became apparent that it was not the path to riches that many had envisioned. Dangerous ice conditions, severe weather, and an inaccessible coast made it exceptionally difficult for navigation, diminishing its value commercially. Only about 60 vessels have ever made the transit.