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Halyburton partakes in British ceremony

LONDON — The crew of a U.S. Navy ship made history Saturday by delivering a keg of wine to the Tower of London.

The guided missile frigate USS Halyburton was the first foreign ship to participate in the annual Constable’s Dues ceremony at the tower, recalling the long-past powers of the Constable of the Tower to collect a bit of cargo from every ship entering London.

The Halyburton crew delivered wine; the Royal Navy crews that normally participated would bring rum.

The Halyburton’s captain, Cmdr. Michael Huck from Bellevue, Neb., led his men to the tower where they were challenged by the Yeoman Gaoler, armed with a fearsome ax that recalled the Tower’s sinister reputation as a place of imprisonment and execution.

Once admitted, the sailors presented the wine to the constable on Tower Green.

The constable’s office goes back to the time of William the Conqueror, in the 11th century, and office holders have included Thomas Becket and the Duke of Wellington. The current constable, retired Gen. Roger Wheeler, is the 158th holder.

In 1381, King Richard II issued a grant specifying the tolls, including “two roundlets of wyne” for any galley passing the Tower.

The tolls lapsed in the 17th century because of the volume of traffic on the river, but the ceremony was revived in recent years.

The Halyburton, which is homeported in Mayport, Fla., was spending three nights in London.