(Cover image: The Terror by Dan Simmons)

“Perilous Position of HMS “Terror”, Captain Back, in the Arctic Regions in the Summer of 1837″ by William Smyth R.N.

Searches have been ongoing for years for the HMS Terror, after it sank with the HMS Erebus during the Royal Navy expedition in 1848, in an attempt solve one of polar exploration’s greatest mysteries.

Nearly 170 years after British polar explorer Sir John Franklin’s doomed attempt to complete the Northwest passage in two warships, the second of the missing vessels – the HMS Terror has been located. “We congratulate the Arctic Research Foundation on finding the Terror 168 years later”, said AMC president of original programming Joel Stillerman.

Underwater footage shows the ship in excellent condition, with all three masts still standing and almost all hatches closed. Other finds include a pair of wine bottles, several tables, and even a desk with its drawers still open. All 129 crew members were lost, almost three years after the Franklin Expedition set out from England.

Eerily, while all of the men perished, the ship that was found seems to have sunk peacefully to the bottom of the bay, and the items on the ship are still largely intact. Two years ago, it’s companion ship, the HMS Erebus, was discovered by underwater archaeologists from Parks Canada.

The HMS Terror was finally located 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of where archaeologists thought it had been lost.

The story that led the Bergman crew to Terror Bay is equally fascinating. It turned out to be one hell of a tip. If this wreck, located in Terror Bay: an uncharted body of water off the shore of King William Island, is indeed the HMS Terror the accepted narrative of polar exploration may need to be rewritten, researchers say.

This is good news for maritime history buffs and hardcore fans of the Northwest Passage, but is probably seen as a mixed blessing by the cable network looking to spin a fantastical yarn about a ship that was never found.