Erebus Arctic expedition brings honours for Canadian naval members

Members of the Canadian Navy are being honoured for their role in discovering HMS Erebus, called the "Holy Grail of the Arctic" for the mystery that surrounded the doomed Franklin expedition ship. 

A triangular hole in the two-metre thick Arctic ice offered Petty Officer 1st Class Yves Bernard a window to the past in September 2014.

"Pristine clear water, it was amazing," he said. "You could see the ship from the hole."

The wooden ship sits on the ocean floor. It hadn't been seen since Sir John Franklin's expedition left it ice-locked in 1848.

"Knowing that so many people have looked for that wreck," Bernard said, "it was a bit like the Holy Grail of the Arctic."

Bernard was one of seven Royal Canadian Navy members honoured today for their help locating the ship and mapping the sea floor.

"You are the vanguard of a group of people that's put the Navy on the map in the Arctic," said Rear Admiral John Newton to the group of sailors gathered for the ceremony.

The expedition to find Franklin's missing vessels — the Erebus and the Terror — was a co-ordinated effort by the Royal Canadian Navy, Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

More science-focused expeditions to come

The commander of Canada's Atlantic fleet said the Royal Canadian Navy's new Arctic offshore patrol ships, set to come into service by 2017 or 2018, will allow Canada to do more science-focused expeditions in the north.

"Our new ships are capable of delivering science," said Newton. "Full-up science missions. Room for different containers, multiple types of containers. Plug-ins for power so these labs can be used for science modules.

"This is one of our new roles."

If it is the new normal for Canada's navy to head north, sailors like those on the Erebus search will need to bundle up.

"They work on establishing an ice camp," Newton said. "They work in freezing — I mean incredibly freezing temperatures, in the most austere landscape."

Even diver Bernard admits he was a bit cold jumping through the ice to dive down to the Erebus below.

"For a unique job like this, I think everybody would've stayed there for a full day," he said. "Suffer a little bit, just to soak it all in."