This vessel bears the name of a famous predecessor. Captain James Cook's second and third voyages to NZ. were aboard H.M.S. Resolution in the years between 1772 and 1779. It could well have sailed these very same waters, to or from Mercury Bay.
Our more modern vessel has an almost identical function although the means used are very different. H.M.N.Z.S. Resolution is our primary acoustic vessel, charting both NZ and Pacific waters. She spent a couple of days sailing in our sea around the middle of Feb. Twice the length and nearly five times the tonnage she is manned by 41 people. Capt. Cook. needed 110 men but his vessel was powered by sail rather than diesel engines.
Cook's Resolution is long gone. It was captured by a French fleet in the East Indies in 1782 and was lost with all hands on it's next voyage to Manila. Today the name is carried by the U.K.'s first ballistic missile carrying submarine. I guess that would not be too welcome here.
