Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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BASED ON A TRUE STORY (BOATS EP. 386) — What really happened to Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition, and how much of AMC’s The Terror is grounded in the historical record? Today we're joined by Rich Napolitano, host of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs, to compare the TV series with the real story of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, from the search for the Northwest Passage to the evidence historians have uncovered about the crew’s fate.

Links
Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs: links.boatspodcast.com/386guest
Rich's episode on The Lost Franklin Expedition: links.boatspodcast.com/386guestFranklin
Rich's episode on Dr. John Rae: links.boatspodcast.com/386guestRae
Find where to watch The Terror: links.boatspodcast.com/386series


Chapters
0:00 Intro to The Terror
2:12 Two Truths and a Lie
4:08 Meet Rich Napolitano
7:22 The Real Franklin Expedition
20:06 Stuck in the Arctic Ice
33:42 Food, Disease, and Survival
47:41 The Terror’s Supernatural Twist
59:18 How the Expedition Ended

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Email me: dan@basedonatruestorypodcast.com