Across the seas and glaciers - to the White House: the history of the table in the Oval Office

In the White House Oval Office, there is a wooden table used by the 22 president of the United States, from 1880 to today.

Photo: IStock

The story began at sea, with a search for the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; The first expeditions with this mission were sent at the beginning of the 17th century. Hundreds of sailors did not return from this search without finding a passage between the two great oceans.

Rear Admiral of the British Navy, polar explorer John Franklin also embarked on this difficult path. He was an experienced officer. In the past, he was the governor of the island of Tasmania, a participant in the Battle of Trafalgar, the War of 1812 with the United States, he conducted 3 Arctic research expeditions. During his first expedition in 1820, he made a coastal map of northeastern Canada, Hudson Bay.

19 May 1845, Admiral John Franklin with 24 officers and 110 sailors on two ships Erebus and Terror went on a hike. 2 years passed, and Franklin's expedition did not return home. What was known at that time: the ships carried a 3-year supply of food; the last people to see them in July 1845 were the sailors of a whaling ship. The local population, the Inuit, claimed that they saw a ship trapped in ice and people trying to escape on the ice. Therefore, the British Admiralty decided to wait another year. But a year later, no news.

Over the next 5 years, 11 British and 2 American ships Advance и Rescue one after another went in search of the missing sailors. Many of them also disappeared without a trace. Soon the death toll in the search process for the Franklin expedition significantly exceeded the number of sailors on board Erebus и Terror. But the search did not stop. In 1850, a ship with the name Investigator took part in the search for the disappeared expedition of Franklin.

First explored the island Beechey where they found the grave of three sailors, then the island King Williamwhere they found a diary, from the records of which it became clear that Admiral Franklin died 11 on June 1847 of the year. According to the stories of local residents, Inuit, it turned out that the last time the ships Franklin saw in July 1846 year. A year later, the Inuit only came across an 1 ship, in the holds of which they found the remains of one sailor.

After 3 years, having spent the 3 wintering in the Arctic latitudes of Canada, the captain Investigator Robert McClour finally led the ship into the strait washing the north shore of Banks Island. He realized that this is the last stretch of the Northwest Passage, a little more, and he will be the first man in history who passed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

But there was no longer any possibility of going further - food supplies were running out. The captain sailed the ship into a large bay, calling it Mercy Bay, but soon the situation deteriorated sharply, and Investigator proved to be firmly bound by the ice. At this place, in the Bay of Mercy, in 157 years (in 2010), a group of polar trackers will find it at a depth of 11 meters.

But sailors Investigator not killed. Shel 1853 year, and in search Investigator there was a ship in the arctic waters Resolute ("Resolute"). Leaving Investigator, all personnel on the ice moved to Resolute. And now with two crews on board Resolute trying to break into the open waters of the Atlantic. He can't do it - Resolute also enters the ice captivity.

But this time everything ended well. Two crews, leaving the ship in the ice, went to the third ship, which brought them back to England.

And abandoned by all Resolute drifting along with the ice, and 10 September 1855 of the year it is discovered by an American whaling ship George Henry; over the 2 of the year, the lonely ship, along with the ice, made its way to 1200 miles (1 930 km). Whaler's captain James Baddington ordered the unfamiliar vessel to be released from the ice and towed to a shipyard in New London, Connecticut. The US government, at its own expense, repaired the English ship and, as a sign of good relations between the United States and Britain, 17 December 1856 of the year returned Resolute his rightful owner, Queen of England Victoria.

Resolute He remained in the service of Her Majesty for 23 years, and in the year 1879 was “retired”. And then Queen Victoria, as a response gesture and as a sign of gratitude to the friendly American people, ordered to make from the wood of the ship Resolute 3 tables. Two large ones, identical, like twins similar to each other, and a third small ladies' table - lady's desk.

In 1880, one of the big tables was donated to the US government, and then President Rutherford Hayes accepted him. Since then, the table has been decorated with the Oval Office of the White House. Practically all of the last 22 President of the country, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, worked at this table.

If you watched an american movie National Treasure (“National Treasure”), then in it the main character penetrates the Oval Office and Buckingham Palace to find a secret code located under the covers of the tables. As you understand, the secret code is an invention of the authors of the film. As for the twin table, it was never in Buckingham Palace. It was supposed to be placed there, but the Queen ordered it to be installed on her royal yacht Victoria & Albert.

Subsequently a table that is part The royal collection, was transferred to the Royal Naval Museum in the city of Portsmouth.

What is the fate of the third, ladies' table. Let's go back for a minute in 1850 year. American entrepreneur, shipowner and philanthropist Henry Grinell just retired. He took the news of the tragedy of the British expedition Admiral Franklin to heart. Henry Greennell personally funded 2 search groups that went looking for missing sailors. Queen Victoria has not forgotten this spiritual impulse an american So, a small ladies' table made from wood of the Resolute ship, the Queen of Great Britain gave Henry Grinnell to his widow in 1880. The table was kept in the Grinnell family and at one time was donated to the whaling museum in the town of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Thus, out of 3 tables, 2 are located in the United States.

More about the history of the table can be found in Evgeny Ushomirsky's blog at Facebook.

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