ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2)

Date of Issue: October 05, 1996
Scott #: 1944

This is one of the four stamps in the series Port Belgrano Naval Base, the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated about 700 km south of Buenos Aires.

It was an aircraft carrier in the Argentine Navy from 1969 to 1997. The English translation of the name "25 de Mayo" is the Twenty-fifth of May, which is the date of Argentina's May Revolution in 1810.

It could carry up to 24 aircraft.

It played an important role in the Falklands War fought in 1982.

Faroe Islands Postal service 25th Anniv.

Date of Issue: April 01, 2001
Scott #: 395

Thanks to blogger friend Mr. Milos Leng (his blog - my covers), Slovakia for sending this souvenir sheet of Faroe Islands on exchange.

This souvenir sheet is issued to commemorate 25 years of postal service (1976 - 2001) in Faroe Islands.

The first stamp shows a boat used for inter island mail transport. The second stamp shows the post office building of 1906 at Torshavn. The last stamp shows a 19th century mail carrier (postman).

Catamaran, INPEX 2008 Special Cover

Date of Issue: January 03, 2008

Issued by Tamilnadu Postal Circle, Chennai on the occasion of International Philatelic Exhibition held during January 02 - 06, 2008.

This special cover features fisherman in Catamaran and the Chennai Port in the background. The special cancellation is a catamaran.

Catamaran - (from Tamil language, kattu - "to tie" and maram - "wood") was the invention of the paravas, a fishing community in the southern coast of Tamilnadu, India. Catamarans were used by the ancient Tamil Chola dynasty as early as the 5th century AD for moving their fleets to invade Southeast Asian regions such as Burma, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Jersey-built sailing ships

(Click image to view larger picture)

Date of Issue: April 14, 1992
Scott #: 599a

During the nineteenth century Jersey enjoyed great economic expansion, largely due to the important influence of the shipbuilding industry. The seal at the top right corner was a square shield Coat of Arms originating from those granted to the Island of Jersey by Edward I in 1279.

The four ships in the souvenir sheet are fully built in Jersey during various periods.

16p - Tickler - a two-masted schooner built in Jersey in 1858. She plied the trade routes of northern Europe and the Mediterranean, with occasional voyages to Newfoundland. Due to some financial difficulties, the company that owned the schooner, sold it to France in 1888. She was last mentioned in the Lloyd’s List in 1864.

22p - Hebe - a two-masted brig was launched in January 1861. She plied her trade on the North Sea and the North Atlantic. She was also used to ferry emigrant workers from Europe to Canada. She was wrecked in October 1887 on Bryon Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

50p - Gemini - a three-masted barque launched on May 07, 1864, making voyages to China, South America, West Indies, and New York. She was eventually broken up in Singapore in 1880 after being declared unseaworthy.

57p - Percy Douglas - a three-masted ship named after Major General Sir Robert Percy Douglas, then Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. Launched on August 08, 1861, the Percy Douglas worked the China routes until December 14, 1871 when it was finally wrecked after running aground off Rangoon, then India.

Source: jerseycoins.com

Public Water Transport, Lisbon

Date of Issue: May 22, 1989
Scott #: 1781

Many thanks to Mr. Manuel Moreira from Silves, south of Portugal for sending me this beautiful souvenir sheet.

This souvenir sheet was issued along with a set of four stamps in the series - Public Transportation, Lisbon.

In this sheet is depicted Cacilheiros - boats that connect the two banks of the River Tagus.


View Larger Map

Once these boats shuttled from Lisbon to Cacilhas, Seixal, Montijo, and Trafaria. All these boats belonged to the company - Transtejo e a Soflusa. Until the construction of the bridge over the Tagus (inaugurated on August 06, 1966), these boats were the only link between the two shores of the River Tagus and are now replaced by modern catamarans.

Some of these old boats have been restored and reused for work, such as restaurant.

N.R.P. Almirante Gago Coutinho, Hydrographic Ship

Date of Issue: November 25, 2005
Scott #: 2783

This is one of the four stamps issued in the series - Modernization of the Portuguese Navy.

The ship depicted in the stamp is N.R.P. Almirante Gago Coutinho, a hydrograhpic ship (hydrography - also includes oceanography and limnology. Hydrography refers to measuring and studying physical characteristics of waters such as tides, current, waves, ocean bed with particular emphasis on those marine geographical features that pose a hazard to navigation such as rocks, shoals, reefs and other features that obstruct ship passage, in order to provide safe navigation of vessels in navigable waters).

The NRP "Almirante Gago Coutinho" was part of a fleet of 10 vessels of Portuguese Navy for surveillance and detection of anti-submarines.

Cover from Portugal

Received this cover from Mr. Manuel, Portugal with a ship stamp on the cover. I will provide more details of the stamp in separate post.

Card from Portugal

Received this card today from Mr. Manuel Inacio Felicia Moreira from Silves, Portugal, through Postcrossing.

This cruise ship named Federico C is the first new ship of Costa Line and served during 1958 - 1983.

Card #2 from China

Received this postcard this week from Ms. Li, Shanghai, China through Postcrossing.

This is a 16th century oil painting in which a boat is seen. I could not find more details about this painting from the net.

Submarine Lembit, Estonia

Date of Issue: February 29, 1996
Scott #: 302

The submarine Lembit is one of the twin submarines of the Republic of Estonia launched in 1936 at Vickers-Armstrongs shipyard in England. Its twin sister “Kalev” perished in November of 1941.

The “Lembit” is the only survived warship of the pre-war Estonian Navy and in the Baltic countries. In 1992 the submarine became a branch of Estonian Maritime Museum.

In the period of 1937-1940 the submarines Lembit and Kalev were the most imposing naval vessels of Estonian Navy.

Source: Estonian Maritime Museum

Godthaab - Maxi card, Greenland

Date of Issue: October 20, 2003
Scott #: 418

Godthaab is a screw-propelled barquentine, was delivered from Sandefjord in 1898 and was in service up to 1954. For many years, she was the most solidly built ship of the Greenland Trade Department. Godthaab was also used as an expedition ship on the east coast of Greenland.

King Gunther's voyage to Iceland

Date of Issue: September 06, 1924
Scott #: B72

This is a semi-postal stamp - a postage stamp issued to raise money for some purpose (such as a charitable cause) and thus sold over and above the cost of postage. The stamp shows two denominations separated by a plus sign. The purpose of surtax of this stamp was for child welfare.

This stamp is one of the six stamps of Nibelungen issue and these stamps are printed in two sizes.

Nibelungen Lied (Nibelungen - name of an ancient royal race which possessed a great treasure ; Lied - song or ballad), one of the world's greatest epics, made its appearance in the 12th or 13th Century, in South Germany.

King Gunther's voyage to Iceland is a chapter/ballad in this great epic.

The German Nibelungen and the corresponding Old Norse form Niflung (Niflungr) is the name in Germanic and Norse mythology of the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled at Worms. The vast wealth of the Burgundians is often referred to as the Niblung or Niflung hoard. In some German texts Nibelung appears instead as one of the supposed original owners of that hoard, either the name of one of the kings of a people known as the Nibelungs, or in variant form Nybling, as the name of a dwarf.

Click here to know more about Nibelungen.

Source: Wikipedia and other websites.

Discovery of Vinland - 1000th Anniversary

Date of Issue: March 16, 2000
Scott #: 905a

Designs:
40k - Viking with shield, globe
50k - Viking ship sailing
75k - Viking ship at shore
90k - Viking without shield, globe

Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norseman - Leif Eriksson, about the year A.D. 1001.

In 1960 archaeological evidence of the only known Norse settlement in North America (outside of Greenland) was found at L'Anse aux Meadows (see map)

There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings did reach North America, approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus.

The name Vinland has been interpreted in two ways: traditionally as Vínland ("wine-land") and more recently as Vinland (meadow- or pasture-land).

The main source of information about the Viking voyages to Vinland is derived from two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders.

If interested in knowing more, click here.

Source: Wikipedia

John Wickliffe and Philip Laing

Date of Issue: February 23, 1948
Scott #: 269

This stamp was issued to commemorate centenary of settlement in the Otago Province.

The two ships - John Wickliffe and Philip Laing are the first to carry settlers from England to Otago Province in New Zealand in 1848. The picture used in the stamp is taken from an 1898 painting by Captain D O Robertson. The Philip Laing sails into Port Chalmers on 15 April 1848, joining the John Wickliffe, which had arrived on 23 March.

Greenpeace - 25th Anniversary - 1997

(click to view larger picture)

Date of Issue: March 06, 1997
Scott #: 4141, 4142, 4143, 4144
Souvenir Sheet: 4145

Thanks to blogger friend Mr. Kallai Ladislau, Romania for sending me these set of stamps and souvenir sheet with MV Greenpeace III in various views.

Greenpeace is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) for the protection and conservation of the environment. It has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in over 40 countries, which are affiliated to the Amsterdam-based Greenpeace International.

Greenpeace, originally known as the Greenpeace Foundation, was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1971.

In 1972 the yacht Vega, a 12.5-metre (41 ft) ketch owned by David McTaggart (an eventual spokesman for Greenpeace International), was renamed Greenpeace III and sailed in an anti-nuclear protest (banner 'stop nuke transport' can be seen in the souvenir sheet) into the exclusion zone at Mururoa in French Polynesia to attempt to disrupt French atmospheric nuclear testing. This voyage was sponsored and organised by the New Zealand branch of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. CNDNZ and the New Zealand Peace Media had been lobbying the New Zealand Government and the New Zealand public to place pressure on Britain and France to agree to enforce a nuclear test ban in the South Pacific since the mid 1950s.

Click here for complete details on Greenpeace organization and its campaigns.

Belgian Antarctic Expedition 1897 - 1899

(click to view larger image)

Date of Issue: August 18, 1997
Scott #: 4175E, F, G, H

Thanks to my blogger friend Kallai Ladislau (e-PhilEx) for sending me these set of stamps.

Belgica - Originally named "Patria" was obtained and re-named Belgica for the Belgian Antarctic Expedition led by Commandant Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery of the Belgian Navy. The main aim of the expedition was to find the position of the South Magnetic Pole. The expedition was intended to be summer only, returning before the Antarctic winter began.

The Belgica left Antwerp on August 16th 1897. She crossed the Antarctic Circle on the 15th of Feb 1898 off Palmer Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. The men of the Belgica made the first ever land excursions into Antarctica, spending a week ashore in an attempt to travel inland.

After more than a year trapped in the ice, the crew again supervised by Amundsen and Cook, sawed a channel through the ice over a period of weeks to free the ship which could then return to Belgium.

The persons depicted in the stamp are:
Emil Racovita - Biologist
Frederick A. Cook - Surgeon, anthropologist, and photographer
Roald Amundsen - 1st mate
Adrian de Gerlache - Commandant

Source: coolantarctica.com

Sofia (1883), Finland

Date of Issue: October 20, 2008

This is a Joint issue by Finland and Greenland Post to commemorate 125 years of Adolf Erik Nordenskiold's voyage with his research vessel - Sofia between Spitsbergen and Greenland.

A. E. Nordenskiold (1832 - 1901) was a Finnish geologist, mineralogist and arctic explorer. He is most remembered for the Vega expedition along the northern coast of Eurasia.

The A.E. Nordenskiöld Collection of maps is located at the University of Helsinki, and it is included in the Memory of the World Register of UNESCO.