Section of sternpost, possibly from HMS RESOLUTION

HMS RESOLUTION is famously remembered as the vessel in which Captain Cook sailed on his second and third voyages of exploration. However, after Cook's death in Hawaii, the RESOLUTION returned to England where it was fitted for service in the East Indies as a store ship in Admiral Sir Edward Hughes's fleet. In 1782 it was captured by the French warship SPHINX. The French Admiral Andre de Suffren sent the captured RESOLUTION to the Philippines for supplies but by the end of hostilities (September 1783) he had received no news of the vessel.

It is believed that the RESOLUTION (under different names) worked in the French whaling industry until it was condemned at Newport, Rhode Island in 1792. This large timber is believed to be part of RESOLUTION's stern post and was given to the museum by the Newport Historical Society.