LONDON (AFP).- Britain will gift to Canada the two shipwrecks from explorer Sir John Franklin's storied Arctic expedition.

The defense ministry said Monday that ownership of the ill-fated HMS Erebus and HMS Terror -- in their era the crown jewels of the Royal Navy -- would be formally transferred to Canada's parks service in the coming weeks.

But Britain will retain "a small sample of artefacts" recovered from the vessels, for display in museums, the ministry added in a statement.

"This exceptional arrangement will recognise the historical significance of the Franklin expedition to the people of Canada, and will ensure that these wrecks and artefacts are conserved for future generations," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.

The ill-fated HMS Erebus and HMS Terror left Britain on May 19, 1845 under the command of Franklin on a mission to discover the Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

But after passing two whaling boats in Baffin Bay in August of that year, they would never be seen afloat again.

Their disappearance marked the worst tragedy in the history of Arctic exploration.

The Erebus was finally located in Victoria Strait in 2014, while the Terror was found well-preserved under 24 meters (80 feet) of water two years later by an underwater archeology team in a nearby bay off King William Island.

The two shipwrecks have been designated Canadian historic sites, and Parks Canada is planning a major excavation of the Erebus next summer.

After the ships were trapped in ice, the sailors eventually ran out of supplies a year and a half later.

The message revealed that Franklin and 23 crew members died on June 11, 1847 in unspecified circumstances.

On April 22, 1848, 105 survivors left the ships in an attempt to reach solid ground on foot, but none survived.

Canadian researchers in the 1980s said the remains of expedition members found on Beechey Island indicated they had died of cold, hunger and lead poisoning from canned food.

© Agence France-Presse