Sailors from doomed Arctic mission with no survivors identified by DNA

The remains of sailors who died on an ill-fated Arctic expedition have been identified by researchers using DNA testing.

The Victorian-era HMS Erebus, built in Pembroke Dock in 1826, became part of nautical folklore after it vanished in the mid-19th Century.

All of the sailors on board died after the ship became stuck in ice, with some resorting to cannibalism during desperate attempts at survival.

Now, three sailors aboard the ship have been identified and living descendants contacted by researchers at the University of Waterloo, in Canada.

And previously unseen artefacts from the wreck - including a bowl and a boot worn by an officer - will go on display at Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre.

HMS Erebus, captained by Sir John Franklin, set sail in 1845.

Accompanied by HMS Terror, it was searching for the fabled Northwest Passage.

Alongside Sir John were 128 seafarers, all of them aiming to find the elusive sea route linking the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Arctic seas off northern Canada.

But tragedy struck when both ships became imprisoned in ice in freezing temperatures in 1846.

After being stuck for two years, and with 24 already dead, 105 survivors tried to save themselves by walking across the frozen sea while pulling heavy sleds in -20C temperatures.

Nobody survived and HMS Erebus's exact fate remained unknown until 2014, when its wreckage was uncovered in the icy waters of northern Canada.

Dr Douglas Stenton, from the University of Waterloo who has excavated the remains of the sailors, said the circumstances they faced were dismal.

"We can't imagine that all 105 of those men were healthy enough to pull those very heavy sleds. They were almost 30 kilometres (19 miles) from shore, so the ability to get fresh food wasn't plentiful.

"Something went seriously wrong. Was it lead poisoning? Was it scurvy? Was it beriberi (disease)? We don't know exactly."

A previous study of more than 400 bones, by Dr Stenton's late colleague Dr Anne Keenleyside, found evidence of cannibalism on some bodies.

The university's newest research has matched DNA from remains with living descendants. Researchers have been in contact with 130 families in seven countries.

This has enabled them to identify three more crew members from Erebus, including Able Seaman William Orren, cabin boy David Young and a steward named John Bridgens.

Harry Peglar, a captain from HMS Terror, has also been identified.

There was no evidence of cannibalism on their remains.

When they left their ships, Dr Stenton said the sailors "stepped onto a path that would lead to their own deaths and in a sense into obscurity".

"The families of the modern-day descendants don't really have much information about what happened to them," he said.