Fit for a President! Kamala Harris gets her own 'Resolute' desk built by the Navy with reclaimed wood from the USS Constitution and a piece of metal from the USS Arizona that sank in Pearl Harbor
Navy Seabees have built Vice President Kamala Harris her own version of the Resolute desk made out of materials from historic U.S. warships.
Harris' desk, which sits in her office in the West Wing of the White House, was put together using wood, copper and nails taken from the USS Constitution, which was commissioned under George Washington in 1794.
The USS Constitution is one of the country's first frigates and is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. It was launched in 1797 in Boston, Massachusetts, and now sits in Baltimore Harbor.
Harris' desk has carvings of an eagle surrounded by stars from the Constitution's stern decorations. It was built by the United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees.
In the pen tray is a piece of the USS Arizona that was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The wreckage still lies on the seabed in Hawaii.
The desk project was approved under Donald Trump and construction began January 4. The desks were the idea of Trump's Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, the Military Times reported.
The Seabees also built a desk for the Navy secretary, using materials from the Constitution, the frigate Chesapeake; the battleships Texas, New Jersey and Arizona; and sloop of war Constellation
Vice President Kamala Harris' desk, in her West Wing office, is built from wood, copper and nails taken off the USS Constitution. The front of her West Wing desk has an eagle and stars from the stern of the warship that was built in 1794 and still floats in Baltimore Harbor. Inside the pen tray is a piece of the USS Arziona that sunk during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor
The two desks - the Navy secretary's on the left and the vice president's on the right - took about seven weeks to build and were constructed at the Washington Navy Yards. The two new desks are known as 'heritage desks' and are similar to the Resolute Desk, which has been used by the five most recent presidents in the Oval Office
Builder 1st Class Hilary Lemelin gives a speech during an executive desk presentation event at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy
The desks took about seven weeks to build and are the property of the Navy. They will be available for future vice presidents and navy secretaries to use.
They were built in a workshop at the Navy Yard's National Museum in Washington D.C.
'It's a huge opportunity to be a part of,' said Builder 1st Class Hilary Lemelin, who is assigned to USS Constitution, in a statement. 'It's amazing to create a desk for someone who makes such large decisions for the country and Navy knowing they'll sit there every day is huge. The importance of their job can affect everything we do. It's a piece of history now.'
The two new desks are known as 'heritage desks' and are similar to the Resolute Desk, which has been used by the five most recent presidents in the Oval Office
The Resolute Desk was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford Hayes in 1880. It was built from the oak timbers of the British Arctic exploration ship HMS Resolute, which was abandoned in the Artic in 1854 and found by an American whaling ship a year later.
The 1,300-pound desk was created by William Evenden at Chatham Dockyard in Kent.
Braithwaite didn't get to use the desk he had the idea for building. Instead acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker sits at it. But Braithwaite was able see the completed desk before it went to the Pentagon during a visit to the Washington Navy Yard.
Inside each desk is a pen tray with a note from Braithwaite and a piece of the USS Arizona, the battleship that sank during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
The desk is the property of the US Navy and will be available for future vice presidents to use
VP Harris showed off her historic desk in this March 27 tweet, on the anniversary of George Washington signing the 1794 Naval Act that authorized construction of the USS Constitution
The USS Constitution, with its topsails unfurled, is towed through Boston Harbor past Boston's financial district skyline in August 2014. It was built in 1794 and is the world's oldest commissioned warship that is still afloat
In the pen tray of Harris' desk is a piece of the USS Arizona that was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The wreckage still lies on the seabed in Hawaii
There are no current plans to build more 'historic desks.
The Seabees have built two others, reports the Military Times: one made from flight-deck planking from the aircraft carrier Essex that's now in the office of the chief of naval operations, and a draftsman-style desk made from deck planking of the submarine Nautilus in the office of naval reactors.
Both desks are part of the Navy's 300,000-plus historic artifact collection maintained and curated by the Naval History and Heritage Command at the Washington Navy Yard.
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