http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007…08.baracko…

I find Mr. Brown's gift rather tasteless. What was his reasoning? Because Obama's skin is dark?

Most of these articles, when referring to the pen holder which was made of wood taken from HMS GANNET, say that the GANNET was a sister ship to HMS RESOLUTE. In my research, I can find no justification for this claim. HMS RESOLUTE was an Arctic exploration ship, powered by sail. Originally a barque named PTARMIGAN, she had been built with private funds for the East India trade, but was purchased for Arctic service by the Admiralty in February 1850 from Mssrs. Smith in Newcastle for the sum of £10,777, and was sent to search for the lost explorer, Sir John Franklin, as soon as she was strengthened for service in the ice. RESOLUTE was a little over 400 tons, and 115 feet long, in service from 1850 – 1854, 1856-1879.

The GANNET that was in the Royal Navy in 1852 was built in Britain at Chatham dockyard by the Admiralty, was 2,590 tons, 213 feet in length, carried 90 guns, and was in service from 1840 – 1863. Another HMS GANNET was built at Sheerness in 1878, was powered by both sail and steam and had a hull constructed from teak on an iron frame. (This HMS GANNET has recently undergone a £3m restoration and is now on display at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, and could be the source of the wood for the pen holder.) Neither ship resembled RESOLUTE, in either build or service.

Another mistake that I have seen is one that referred to the RESOLUTE as being a ship the Admiralty used in the “campaign against slavery.” The closest she came to the slave trade was through her captain, Henry Kellett, who, after his return from the Belcher Expedition in 1854, was commissioned captain of TERMAGANT on the West Indies station. Part of his orders was to monitor and disrupt the illegal cross-Atlantic slave trade.

The most significant gift Prime Minister Brown gave President Obama was RESOLUTE’s commissioning papers. RESOLUTE and the desk in the Oval Office made from her timbers represent the special relationship between Britain and the States because the ship was a symbolic gift when such a gesture was desperately needed. In 1856, Britain and the States were on the very brink of war. Among other warlike activities taken by both countries, America had closed the British Embassy and sent the ambassador home: truly 11:59 p.m. when midnight is war. After the gift of a completely refurbished RESOLUTE arrived in Portsmouth, all the talk of war dissipated.

Captain Henry Hartstene, who delivered RESOLUTE, reminded his hosts that handing over the ship to the Royal Navy was "against the traditions of his service", a reference to the War of 1812, when the dying captain of USS CHESAPEAKE pleaded with his crew: "Don't give up the ship" to the British. Incidentally, Hartstene must have been a party animal: he over spent his hospitality budget of $4,000 by a further $2,000! Perhaps we need his descendants to visit London and spend their high-valued dollars today to boost the British balance of payments?

After her return in 1856, RESOLUTE was never used for Arctic exploration again, despite Lady Franklin asking for the ship to conduct more searches for her lost husband. The Admiralty kept her close to home, and used her as a troopship and store ship in home waters. Possibly the admirals could not face the chance of being embarrassed if the ship were to be lost (and maybe found) again in the Arctic? When she went to the breaker's dock at Chatham in 1879, Queen Victoria had several desks made from her timbers, the most famous one is living in the Oval Office today.

Since 1856 the United States and Britain have been allies, and, though the relationship has been strained a few times since, we have settled our differences through diplomacy, not on the battlefield. That two such great enemy nations made this transition peacefully is something to be celebrated, and honoured. Being allies does not mean that two countries will always, or SHOULD always agree. It not-so-simply means that the disagreements will be aired and hopefully resolved through words, not swords. That $44,000 spent in 1856 for RESOLUTE's refurbishment continues to pay a huge peace dividend today.

Is the relationship one sided? Over the 150 years since the Americans bought, refurbished, and sailed RESOLUTE back to Britain there have been times when America has given support to Britain, and others when Britain has supported the States. But focusing on that question is, as my mother used to say: putting the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble, i.e. where it doesn’t belong. Though it is regrettable that the president did not have adequate advise about what would have been appropriate gifts to give to the British prime minister, celebrating and emulating the peaceful change these two enemies made so long ago would make today’s world a better place. There are certainly many countries that need to make a similar transition from being deadly enemies to, if not allies, then at least no longer warring enemies.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Matthews

-Elizabeth Matthews, author of From the Canadian Arctic to the President’s Desk, HMS RESOLUTE, and How She Prevented a War, will be lecturing on the RESOLUTE at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, in October as part of their exhibition: The Northwest Passage: An Arctic Obsession.