HMS Resolute (1850)

An etching of HMS Resolute from December 1856.
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Resolute
Builder:	Smith of Shields, UK
Acquired:	1850
Fate:	1854, left locked in Arctic ice
United States
Acquired:	1855, found adrift in ice
Fate:	1856, restored and returned to UK as a gift
United Kingdom
Acquired:	1856
Struck:	1879
Fate:	Broken up
General characteristics
Tons burthen:	424 bm
Length:	115 ft (35 m)
Beam:	28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Sail plan:	3-masted barque

HMS Resolute was a mid-19th-century barque-rigged ship of the British Royal Navy, specially outfitted for Arctic exploration. Resolute became trapped in the ice and was abandoned in 1854. Recovered by an American whaler, she was returned to Queen Victoria in 1856. Timbers from the ship were later used to construct a desk which was presented to the President of the United States.

In the face of rising concerns on the fate of the Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin, which had left Britain in 1845 in search of the North West Passage and had not been heard from since, by 1848 the British Government began sending expeditions in search of it. Few existing warships being deemed suitable, six merchant ships were purchased between 1848 and 1850 and converted into exploration ships: two were steamships, HMS Pioneer and HMS Intrepid, the other four (Resolute, Assistance, Enterprise and Investigator) being seagoing sailing ships. The first ship sent to help Franklin was HMS Herald, Captain Henry Kellett. Herald came through Bering Strait to search the western reaches of the Canadian Arctic. In 1850, HMS Investigator, Captain McClure, and HMS Enterprise, Captain Collinson were sent into the Arctic from the west.

Resolute was formerly the barque Ptarmigan which was purchased on 21 February 1850 and was renamed HMS Resolute a month later. The ship was fitted for Arctic service by the Blackwall civilian shipyard Blackwall Yard, with especially strong timbers, an internal heating system, and a polar bear as a figurehead.

During 1850-51 Resolute (flagship), Assistance, Pioneer and Intrepid, searched the eastern Arctic under the overall command of Horatio Thomas Austin. The only positive trace of Franklin they found was the remains of his first winter camp on Beechey Island.