A wooden cylindrical water canteen from the 1845 Northwest Passage Expedition led by Sir John Franklin. The canteen has a flat circular piece of wood front and back and staves round the side. The staves are secured by iron hoops joined by two iron rods to take a leather carrying strap. There is a hole in the side with the bung missing and traces of blue paint on the external surfaces. One side is carved 'GR' with the broad arrow and the other side is painted 'No 6'.

The wooden canteen was recovered by the US expedition under Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka between 1878-1880. It is described as 'Item 25. Wooden cantine [sic] (marks G. B.) found at Wall Bay' in the 1881 catalogue of items that he sent back to Britain in 1881 [TNA, ADM 1/6600].

Schwatka's expedition visited Cape Maria Louisa twice, which is just south of Wall Bay: on the way to Cape Felix in mid June 1879 and then around 12 July on the return trip. Gilder records that they found a '...wooden canteen barrel shaped, marked on one side 'No.3' and on the other 'G.B.' under the Queen's broad arrow...' among the items retrieved from the cache. [Gilder, page 148. Note the wrong number and initials are original in the text]. Frederick Schwatka noted 'a small barrel canteen, marked on one side No. 6, on the other G.P. and the Queen's broad arrow' [Schwatka, page 84]. Heinrich Klutschak reported that an Inuk had told the expedition that he had cached these items under a rock for lack of transport but was unable to find them when he came back. [Klutschak, page 94].

The canteen has a label '10' indicating that it was displayed in the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich, 'Case 13, No. 10. Wooden canteen marked G.R.'. It was also in Display 14 at the Royal Naval Exhibition at Chelsea in 1891.