The fate of Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 ship has long been one of Canada's greatest mysteries, but on Sunday archeologists got one step closer to solving that mystery when they discovered the wreckage.
"This is a great historic event," prime minister Stephen Harper
told CBC News.
"For more than a century this has been a great Canadian story . . . It's been the subject of scientists and historians and writers and singers. And so I think we have a really important day in mapping together the history of our country."
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A coalition that included Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Arctic Research Foundation, and others found the wreckage using a remotely operated underwater vehicle.
Using sonar that was the "latest, cutting-edge technology," Harper announced from Parks Canada's laboratories in Ottawa on Tuesday that the research teams discovered that the ship is "indisputably" one of Franklin's, and that "it appears to be perfectly preserved."
He said the find was partially borne of the new technology. "With older technology, you could have come very close to this and not seen it at all," he said.
Nearly 130 crew members aboard two ships died on the Franklin expedition, which departed from England and was lost trying to find a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
According to The Toronto Star, Parks Canada has led six major searches for the ships since 2008, and has covered hundreds of square miles of seabed.
Queen Elizabeth sent a note of congratulations to Canada on Tuesday following the big announcement.
"I was greatly interested to learn of the discovery of one of the long-lost ships of Captain Sir John Franklin. Prince Philip joins me in sending congratulations and good wishes to all those who played a part in this historic achievement," the statement read.
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