The break with the colonies had also deprived Britain of one of its pri- mary sources of masts, the forests of New Hampshire. In fact, the last ship- ment of masts from America reached British ports not long after the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill. As a result of the shortage of "great sticks," which now had to come from the Baltic, many of the king's ships were unable to get to sea at critical junctures during the war. <A HREF="http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:JjEzAa_ahu4:www.josseybass.com/Corp orate/Website/Objects/Product/CDA/PDF_Item/1,8789,19563%257CC00%257C0,00.pdf+M arblehead+schooner,+Necessity&hl=en">"Attack, Take, or Destroy"</A>