Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/We have sailed the ocean blue, and our saucy ship's a beauty

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HMS Resolute[edit]

Voting period is over. Please don't add any new votes. Voting period ends on 25 Jun 2014 at 08:17:20 (UTC)

Original – Queen Victoria visits the HMS Resolute, prior to it being granted to her as a gift. Resolute was a British ship lost in the Arctic ice, and later recovered by Americans and refurbished. As a return favour, the wood from the ship was later made into a desk, and said desk is an iconic part of the American White House furniture.
Reason
A gorgeous illustration, showing a very significant point in the Resolute's story: the point where it being refitted and returned to Britain.
Articles in which this image appears
HMS Resolute (1850), Resolute desk
FP category for this image
You could argue a few, Wikipedia:Featured pictures/History/Others or Wikipedia:Featured pictures/History/USA History likely makes most sense
Creator
William Simpson (artist), George Zobel (engraving) and Adam Cuerden (restoration)
  • Support as nominator – Adam Cuerden (talk) 08:17, 15 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support — Definitely melodramatic 19th C. art, but nice, and the article is well done. Sca (talk) 21:38, 15 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - Useful illustration; don't think the topic has been featured on the MP in a while. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 09:35, 16 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support per Crisco. Hafspajen (talk) 10:20, 16 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. Beautiful and very useful illustration. --Carioca (talk) 20:01, 16 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - Excellent restoration. SagaciousPhil - Chat 08:17, 17 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Love the image, but the caption... Searching the article for third, war, and avert reveals nothing about a third Br-Am war being averted. Even if one or even a few sources say this, it's an extraordinary claim that would require a high level of unanimity among historians to be used. I think it would be much more interesting to bring in the desk angle --- but watch out for the slavery story, which seems to be mistaken. EEng (talk) 21:11, 18 June 2014 (UTC) P.S. The name of the file is amusing, but perhaps it should be changed.[reply]
The caption isn't used outside of this, and the war text is in the Resolute desk article; search for "They were on the brink of their third war. " - but, as stated, it's a list of references, not a footnote, so take that with a grain of salt. (also, it's not the file name that references Pinafore, just the nomination page. =) Adam Cuerden (talk) 22:18, 18 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm... Well, the statement needs to be supported in something linked from the caption, otherwise a zillion people are going to puzzled at not finding it in the linked article, as I was. I see the text in the Desk article now that you point it out, but there are serious problems. As someone's already pointed out in the interjection added to the caption, this war-avoided idea is supported only by a list of general refs at the end of the Desk article, and the text itself smacks of amateurishness to the point that reliability is seriously on question. It sounds like a children's book:
The relationship between Britain and America was at a breaking point when Buddington salvaged Resolute. They were on the brink of their third war. President Franklin Pierce addressed Congress to say he had ceased to have diplomatic relations with Britain. He closed the British embassies and sent the ambassadors home. Tensions continued to mount. Suddenly one of the most vocal hawks, Senator James Murray Mason, from Virginia, proposed a bill in Congress for the government to buy Resolute, refurbish her, and sail her back to Britain as a present. The bill passed, authorizing more than $40,000 for the work, and President Pierce signed it into law. The Resolute was sent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she underwent a complete refit, and Commander Henry Hartstene USN, sailed her back to Britain, arriving at Spithead on December 12, 1856. After Resolute was towed to Cowes so that the Queen and Prince Albert could tour her, Captain Harstene presented the ship to Queen Victoria as a gesture of peace and good-will on December 17, 1856. Soon the talk of war ceased, and the gift of Resolute was seen as instrumental in the easing of these tensions.
Seen by whom? This cannot go on main page without unimpeachable sources. EEng (talk) 22:27, 18 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. I added that to the caption. In any case, while it does appear in a few online sources, I don't have immediate access to the ones listed in the article; I suspect a biography of Franklin Pierce should be sufficient to confirm, though. Don't worry too much about this nomination page: all PotD text is taken from the articles, not the nomination, so, as long as the articles are fixed, it should be fine. Think it's time for me to sleep though: it's been a long day. Adam Cuerden (talk) 22:32, 18 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I'll say it again: this is an extraordinary claim that will need extraordinary support. Historians argue at length about why this or that war did happen -- why one didn't happen is 3X harder. Something about "helped relieve tensions blah blah" would be less problematic but, again, why not switch some interesting stuff about the desk instead? EEng (talk) 04:46, 19 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, but do note that the article is the more important thing to change. Adam Cuerden (talk) 05:51, 19 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]
This is about the picture. Maybe article talk page? Hafspajen (talk) 05:56, 19 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted File:William Simpson - George Zobel - England and America. The visit of her majesty Queen Victoria to the Arctic ship Resolute - December 16th, 1856.jpg --Armbrust The Homunculus 09:38, 25 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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