The HMS Terror …. Entrance of the Frozen Strait

HMS Terror was a Royal Navy bomb vessel which was completed in 1813 and took part in several battles during the war of 1812. After this she was converted into a polar exploration ship and is pictured here during George Back's Arctic expedition of 1836-1837. In 1836 around Southampton Island in Hudson Bay, HMS Terror was trapped in ice and remained stuck for ten months. Lieutenant William Smyth was inspired to paint the expedition. The ship was nearly in a sinking condition by the time Back was able to beach the ship on the coast of Ireland on 21 September 1837.