Mercy Bay
{{Short description|Bay in the Northwest Territories, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox body of water
|name= Mercy Bay
|image= Investigator in Mercy Bay.jpg
|caption = {{HMS|Investigator|1848|6}} in Mercy Bay
|location= M'Clure Strait
|coords= {{coord|74|05|02|N|119|00|10|W|region:CA-NT_type:waterbody_scale:500000|notes={{Cite cgndb|LAPNO |Mercy Bay|date=3 September 2024}}|display=inline,title|name=Mercy Bay}}
|rivers=
|oceans= Arctic Ocean
|countries= Canada
|length=
|pushpin_map=Canada Northwest Territories
|width=
|area=
|cities= Uninhabited
|references=
}}
Mercy Bay is a Canadian Arctic waterway in the Northwest Territories. It is a southern arm of M'Clure Strait on northeast Banks Island. The mouth of Castel Bay is less than {{cvt|20|km}} to the west. These bays are a part of Aulavik National Park.
HMS ''Investigator''
File:Capt. M'Clure's monument at Mercy Bay (51110).jpg
In September 1851, Captain Robert McClure's ship, {{HMS|Investigator|1848|6}} became ice trapped in Mercy Bay during the McClure Arctic expedition while searching for the Northwest Passage and Franklin's lost expedition. By 1853, it was finally abandoned in the bay. The crew sledged over ice to Melville Island, where they were rescued.{{cite web|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nt/aulavik/natcul/natcul2_e.asp|title=European exploration |publisher=Parks Canada|accessdate=2008-11-02}}
In July 2010, Parks Canada archeologists looking for HMS Investigator found it fifteen minutes after they started a sonar scan of Banks Island, Mercy Bay, Northwest Territories. The archaeology crew had no plans to raise the ship. They did a thorough sonar scan of the area, then sent a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROUV).{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/abandoned-1854-ship-found-in-arctic-1.911131|title=Abandoned 1854 ship found in Arctic|date=July 29, 2010|publisher=CBC News|access-date=29 July 2010}} The Canadian archaeologists found the ship "largely intact", sitting upright, approximately {{cvt|25|ft|order=flip}} under the Arctic Ocean. Its masts were missing, probably sheared away by the ice.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10793639 |title=BBC News - Canadian team finds 19th Century HMS Investigator wreck |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date= 2010-07-28|accessdate=2010-07-29}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Mercy Bay}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPhDZ0Ghf3I Video: Discovery of HMS Investigator]
{{Bays of the Northwest Territories}}
Category:Bays of the Northwest Territories
{{NorthwestTerritories-geo-stub}}