January 13, 2002

Bush's Desk Eerie

Odyssey of the White House oval office desk - from the ghost ship HMS Resolute to Queen Victoria to President George W. Bush - borders on the eerie.

The strange tale begins in 1845 with Sir John Franklin, a veteran Arctic explorer. He set out from Britain, by command of the Admiralty, to find a northwest passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

At the time, there was no Panama Canal. The Ferdinand Magellan voyage of l521-2 had discovered a southwest passage around The Horn of South America. However, it was long and dangerous. The oceans mingled there in perpetual storms.

Geographers knew there was ocean north of Canada, but it was locked in ice. For 300 years, explorers searched for a summertime way between the Arctic icecap and the many islands at the north edge of Canada. Such a route would open a lucrative trade with the Orient.

Capt. Franklin led a task force of two ships. Three months later they spoke to a whaling ship as they approached the icecap. They were never heard from again. In the decade following, 32 British ships and three from the United States attempted to find the lost expedition.

The admiralty in 1852 organized an expedition of five ships, under command of Sir. Edward Belcher, to find a navigable passage and determine the fate of the Franklin crews.

Two ships, including the Resolute captained by Henry Kellett, started from Melville Island. Two others, including Belcher on the Assistance went up Wellington Passage. The fifth vessel was stationed at Beechey Island as a backup.

All ships were frozen in as anticipated. Plenty of food had been brought. Exploration was resumed in the summer thaw, but the ships were frozen in again by an early winter.

Commander Belcher had enough. He directed that the Resolute and her sister ship to be abandoned. The crews were to come to his flagship and two others at Beechey Island for return to Britain.  

Capt. Kellet said the Resolute was a stout ship with adequate supplies for a third summer of work. The vessel was 115 feet long and 38 feet wide. The hull had three courses of oak, and the decks were double planked. A furnace fed steam through a network of pipes to every cabin.

Belcher dismissed Kellet's assessment and ordered him to come forward with his crew - which they did after a two-week journey over the ice.

Back home, Belcher was court-martialed for giving up without adequate cause. Kellet was commended and went on to become an admiral.

Ghost Ship

As Capt. Kellet predicted, the Resolute survived the winter ice and floated free during the summer thaw.  

Unaided - a "ghost ship" -- she drifted 1,200 miles to Baffin Bay. There, in September 1855, she was found by Capt. James Buddington of the American whaler George Henry.

Historian Elizabeth Loeppert, says that when Capt. Buddington and a "prize crew" came on board to take possession of the Resolute, they were awed. "A deathlike silence, and dread repose prevailed. For a year and four months, no human foot had trod the deck of the deserted ship."

The sailors were not so awed, however, that they could not enjoy a few bottles of wine found in the ship's locker.

Buddington sailed the Resolute to New London, Conn. The British government waived all claim to her. The U.S. government took possession of the ship for its assessed value of $40,000. However, Buddington never received anything for his prize, and the crew got only small amounts.

The Resolute was refitted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a gift to Britain. The hull was repainted. Rotted sails replaced. Thousands of feet of cordage re-strung. Books in Capt. Kellet's cabin were re-shelved. A music box was returned to an officer's cabin. An organ in the ship's mess hall was tuned.  

Author: Lindsey Williams