We have now decided to return to Hudson Bay in August to search for the ships sunk during the “Battle of Hudson Bay”.  This return to the Bay will allow the team to execute ground and sea search techniques in preparation for the 2014 Arctic trip.  We will set up our basecamp at York Factory on the Hayes River in northern Manitoba.

While we were preparing for our expedition down the Nelson River last year we learned of one of the most signficant battles in Canadian history and the largest naval battle in the North American Arctic.  It occurred in 1697 between one French warship and 3 British ships.  The British ships included a “ship of the line” and two merchant vessels.  Both the French and British warships were around 200 feet long.  Pierre D’Iberville was the French Captain who sunk the British warship, captured another and then ran his ship into the shallows to save his crew.  He then marched on York Factory and captured it.

It is an incredible story and the Fara Heim looks forward to reaching back the 300 years to Pierre’s maritime exploits on our way to the Norse exploration a millenium ago.

For more information take a look at wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hudson’s_Bay

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post