On May 19, 1845, an expedition departed from Greenhithe, United Kingdom, with the aim of reaching the Arctic and navigating, for the first time, the route known as the Northwest Passage, which linked Canada to the North Pole and would allow for the discovery of a navigable connection to the Atlantic. For centuries, and for commercial reasons, there had been an aspiration to find a northern route connecting Europe with Asia. The main ships of the 1845 expedition were the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, which had a crew of about 130 people led by Captain John Franklin.