HISTORY LESSON Photo credit: Dave Roels (www.daveroels.com)
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his month, Parks Canada is scheduled to return to the wreck of Franklin’s ship Erebus. Most people know about the Erebus and Terror— Franklin’s two ill-fated ships—but few are aware of the supply ship that accompanied them to the coast of Greenland before returning to England. This ship has its own interesting history. From a British troop ship to a convict ship in Tasmania, this is the story of the Barretto Junior. The Barretto Junior was a barque of 523 tons built in Calcutta in 1818. I could not find a record of who built or originally owned her, but it would be safe to assume that her name provides a clue. The Barretto family was an established and wealthy family in India of Portuguese descent. Indeed, we may suppose that the Barretto Junior could be named after Joseph Barretto Junior who joined his father’s merchant firm, Joseph Barretto & Co., in 1806. It is known that
The Barretto Junior: A biography of Franklin’s supply ship By Lea Edgar
Librarian/Archivist, Vancouver Maritime Museum
>>> Most people know about the Erebus and Terror...but few are aware of the supply ship that accompanied them to the coast of Greenland before returning to England. the Barrettos at this time purchased two ships: one to operate between the Cape of Good Hope and London and one to operate between Macau and other parts of China. The Asiatic Journal mentions the vessel at Madras (modern Chennai, India) and China in 1819. By 1839 the Barretto Junior appears in the United Service Journal and Naval and Military magazine as a ship transporting British troops to Gibraltar. It seems this vessel must have been contracted to serve the British government a number times. The year 1845 saw the Barretto Junior reach a small measure of fame. The Admiralty instructed Sir John Franklin to attempt to discover the Northwest
Sketch of the Barretto Junior by Owen Stanley, 1845. National Library of Australia: nla.pic-an3015976-s10.
18 BC Shipping News March 2015
Passage. Their instructions stated, “… taking also with you the ‘Barretto Junior’ transport, which has been directed to be put at your disposal for the purpose of carrying out portions of your provisions, clothing and other stores.” Commanded by Lieutenant Edward Griffiths, the Barretto’s job was essentially to lighten the load of the two main ships by carrying the provisions needed to make it across the Atlantic to the Arctic and transferring those stores when the supply ship could go no further. Two steam tugs, HMS Rattler and HMS Blazer, also accompanied the ships to Greenland. They assisted by taking turns towing the three vessels. This group of vessels bound for the Arctic was affectionately called the “North Pole Squadron” by Owen Stanley, an officer who came along for the journey across the Atlantic. He may have provided the only image of the Barretto Junior in existence today from his sketchbook of the journey. The vessels arrived safely on July 4, 1845, to the staging harbour at Disko Bay, Greenland. It was here that the Barretto Junior transferred its provisions over to the Erebus and Terror. At this point, five men from the Franklin expedition were discharged back to England on board the Barretto Junior and Rattler. What must they have thought of missing out on the adventure, but ultimately surviving the doomed expedition? On July 12, the last opportunity to send letters home, Franklin wrote a dispatch that stated, “The transport will sail for England this