She sank to the bottom of the Northwest Passage near Beechey Island in Lancaster Sound, approximately 500 miles (800 km) north of the Arctic Circle.

In August 1980, the wreck was discovered by a five-man team led by Joe MacInnis working from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Sir John A. McDonald.

The ship was originally used to transport wine, wool and grain to Europe, and spent her first ten years sailing between England and Calcutta carrying various goods.

[8] She left the Thames River in 1853, accompanied by HMS Phoenix (one of the first screw propulsion ships in the Arctic),[8] and arrived at a rallying point at Beechey Island later that year.

[7] Her new mission would be to carry supplies to Sir Edward Belcher's high Arctic search expedition in the Resolute Bay area (now part of Nunavut).

Using side-scan sonar towed by CCGS John A. Macdonald, the ship was found in 100 metres (330 ft) of water one and a half kilometres (0.93 mi) south of Beechey Island.

In September 1981, MacInnis, working on CCGS Pierre Radisson, led a team that used a remotely operated vehicle to collect more than 1,000 images.

In 1983, another four crewed- and six remotely operated vehicle dives were made, during which the ship's wheel was recovered and turned over to Parks Canada for preservation and display.