The monument to Sir John Franklin, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London

Monument to Sir John Franklin. The monument erected in the Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital, by order of Parliament, in memory of Sir John Franklin and his brave companions who sailed in the Erebus and Terror in search of a north-west passage, consists of a centre tablet, on which are inscribed the names of the enterprising and unfortunate officers and crews engaged in the expedition. This is surmounted by a pediment, within which are two crowns of oak and olive entwined. The subject is illustrated by sculpture. On the right of the tablet (the spectator’s left) is a statue of a naval officer–not a portrait–studying on an open folio, with compasses in hand, the route of the ships. This figure is standing. Near him are a globe, books, and papers referring to Arctic researches, and inscribed with the names of Franklin, Parry, and Ross. In the background are seen, in low relief, the tall masts of the ships, with sails set, as if departing. A space is then left; and the next object that takes the attention is a group of large, splintered icebergs, shooting up irregularly into the sky. Over these is a star, denoting the North or Polar Star. In the fissure of an iceberg is seen a crushed and broken spar, with loose tackle. Below this scene of desolation is a statue of a sailor sitting on a fragment of rock. He is habited in the dress worn in the inclement northern regions; one of his feet, wounded, is bandaged. The expression given to this figure is intended for that of deep despondency. Lying near him are a broken icoe-pol with its tackle, such as was used in those expeditions, and the peculiar floe-anchor employed for grappling and holding on to the ice. The work is in marble, and occupies a space of about eighteen feet high by between nine and ten wide. The execution of this monument was intrusted by Government to Richard Westmacott, R.A., and most worthily has he acquitted himself of the task. …”-Illustrated London news, loc. cit.

From Wikipedia:

Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRS FLS FRGS (16 April 1786 – 11 June 1847) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator. After serving in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, he led two expeditions into the Canadian Arctic and through the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, during the Coppermine expedition of 1819 and the Mackenzie River expedition of 1825, and served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land from 1837 to 1843. During his third and final expedition, an attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage in 1845, Franklin’s ships became icebound off King William Island in what is now Nunavut, where he died in June 1847. The icebound ships were abandoned ten months later, and the entire crew died from starvation, hypothermia, and scurvy.

Object description
Type: Sculpture
Location: Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London
Material: Marble
Artist: Richard Westmacott R.A (1775-1856)
Date: 1869

Image Details
Date: 17 June 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30s
ISO: 800
Licensing: Image of a Old Royal Naval College asset. This image cannot be licensed.