Now a new book chronicles the turbulent life of the HMS Investigator. As “Lost Beneath the Ice: The Story of the HMS Investigator” reveals, after a year of preparation for the search, it took just three minutes to spot the sunken ship using sonar. At the time, Harris says, they were just testing the equipment to make sure all systems were running.

The book spans the life of the ship, from its Victorian-era voyage to its present-day, whirlwind discovery under the ice of Mercy Bay, Northwest Territories. With text by Andrew Cohen, historical sketches, and photographs from Parks Canada, the book paints a vivid picture of then and now.

“It juxtaposes the challenges and perils of Arctic exploration in the mid-19th century with the challenges of Arctic scientific research today,” says Harris. “While we don’t have to face the same perils and prospects of death, we do have to cope with the ice and weather and the remoteness of the location.”

In 2011, Harris’s team returned to that remote location to view the ship up close. They completed more than 100 dives to the wreck over nine days. The photos they took of the ship and the artifacts they found — laid out in “Lost Beneath the Ice” — tell the end of a story that began in England, where the Investigator set out for the Arctic as a search party.