Sir Edward Belcher

Edward Belcher was the man in overall command of the last Admiralty expedition to search for Franklin, it was also the largest expedition sent out consisting of five ships, it left London in 1852 when Belcher was 53 years old. The expedition made slow progress due to sea ice and the ships being frozen in over the winters. Belcher was an unpopular leader known for applying petty rules and regulations in an unnecessarily harsh manner, though this did encourage his men to become involved in sledging journeys to get away from him.

After two years looking and having found nothing, he became concerned for his ships and his men. Eventually he ended up abandoning four out of the five ships he entered the Arctic with. Two ships that turned up at Beechey Island in the summer of 1854 helped to return all crews safely to England. Belcher underwent the automatic court martial for any captain who lost a ship. He was exonerated of any wrong-doing, though the verdict was seen more as "not proven" than "not guilty". He never saw any kind of active service again though was honoured with the Order of the Bath in 1867 and was made an admiral in 1872.