The Last Voyage of the Karluk

Record summary

The Karluk, flagship of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, was trapped in ice and eventually sank in 1914; members of its company made a prolonged struggle toward Wrangel Island, with multiple deaths. Robert Bartlett’s later account, The Last Voyage of the Karluk, helped establish the episode in polar exploration literature. It is a concrete maritime catastrophe that can be compared with Arctic oral traditions about ice, failed journeys, exposure and survival. The event itself is well documented, but later heroic retellings may simplify responsibility, Indigenous assistance and the expedition’s internal disputes.