Canada finds one of 2 Franklin Expedition ships in Arctic search

Canada has found one of the two sunken ships from the Franklin expedition that was lost in 1846 in the Arctic, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

"Although we do not know yet whether the discovery is Her Majesty's ship HMS Erebus or HMS Terror, we do have enough information to confirm its authenticity," Harper said today in a statement.

The find was confirmed on Sept. 7 by Parks Canada using a remotely operated underwater vehicle. Parks Canada has led six searches for the lost ships since 2008.

The Erebus and Terror left England in May 1845 on an Arctic expedition to search for a Northwest Passage to Asia under command of Sir John Franklin. The expedition's two ships set out with 134 officers and men. The ships became trapped in ice in late 1846 and remained so for about one and a half years, according to a message found in a cairn on King William Island in 1859.