Monday, May 30, 2011

Charles Darwin 200th Birth Anniv

Date of Issue: 2009

This strip of three se-tenant stamps were issued to commemorate 200 years of Birth of Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, who went on HMS Beagle under Captain FitzRoy on an expedition to chart the coastline of South America. Throughout the voyage, Darwin spent most of that time on land investigating geology and making natural history collections, while the Beagle surveyed and charted coasts.

The background of the three stamps shows the world map with route of the HMS Beagle, which made stops at Cape Verde. The design on first stamp shows Darwin and evolutionary tree, second stamp shows drawing of HMS Beagle, and the final stamp shows young Darwin studying an octopus.

Many thanks to my friend, Manuel Moreira from Portugal for sending me this stamp set.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Hanseatic Cog

This is third cover sent by Mr. Wolfgang Beyer, Germany, with special postmark obtained at Stade, Germany during the Hansa Day celebration celebrated annually in the month of May at various Hanseatic cities of northern Europe.

The postmark shows Cog (or cog-built vessels) - a type of ship that first appeared in the 10th century, and was widely used from around the 12th century on. Cogs were generally built of oak, which was an abundant timber in the Baltic region of Prussia. This vessel was fitted with a single mast and a square-rigged single sail. These vessels were mostly associated with seagoing trade in medieval Europe, especially the Hanseatic League, particularly in the Baltic Sea region.

Friday, May 27, 2011

MS Color Magic and MS Color Fantasy at Kiel, Germany

MS Color Magic: MS Color Magic is the world's largest cruiseferry owned and operated by the Norway-based shipping company, Color Line on their route connecting Oslo, Norway to Kiel, Germany.

MS Color Fantasy: MS Color Fantasy is sister ship of MS Color Magic and is the world's second largest cruiseferry, also owned and operated by the Norway-based shipping company, Color Line on their route connecting Oslo, Norway to Kiel, Germany.
 
Philatelic Journey: A Philatelic tour was organized by Kiel Philatelic Society onboard these two cruiseferries from May 12 - 15, both Norwegian Post and Deutsche Post came out with their special postmarks.

Many thanks to friend, Mr. Wolfgang Beyer, Germany for sending me this cover with wonderful postmark. This is the second cover this week from him.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Portugal-Korea Diplomatic Relations - 50th Anniv

Date of Issue: April 15, 2011

Portugal issued two stamps to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relationship with Korea. The first stamp shows The Turtle Ship of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin and the other stamp shows The Portuguese Nau.

Many thanks to my friends Luis Melo and Manuel Moreira for sending me the stamp set, First Day Cover, and brochure with stamps and first day cancellation.

Click here to see the Korean stamps of same issue.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Queen Mary 2 at Hamburg Harbor Birthday Party 2011

 
Special postmark on May 8, 2011, to commemorate RMS Queen Mary 2's (largest ocean liner in the world) visit to Hamburg to participate in the 822nd Hamburg Harbor's Birthday.

The Port of Hamburg was founded on May 7, 1189. It is named Germany's "Gateway to the World" and is the largest port in Germany. It is the second-busiest port in Europe (after the port of Rotterdam), in terms of TEU throughput, and 11th-largest worldwide.

The celebration of the harbor's birthday (Hafengeburstag) every year during the first weekend of May is one of Hamburg's biggest public events. Visitors come from all over Germany and Europe to experience the festivities. Tugboats perform "ballets", old galleons and new cruise ships are open for tours, and fireworks explode at night.

The festival this year was officially opened by Prince Haakon of Norway.

Thanks to Wolfgang Beyer from Germany for the surprise cover with beautiful postmark.

Source: Wikipedia

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Bicentennial of death of Capt. James Cook (1779 - 1979)

Date of Issue: June 01, 1979
Scott #: C288 (Air Post Stamp)

This is one of the two stamps issued to commemorate Bicentenary of death of Captain James Cook, during his third and final voyage (July 1776 - August 1780).

The stamp shows ships of James Cook, HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery at Karakakoa / Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii. The map shows the route of the third voyage and the dotted line from Hawaii shows route of Cook's crew after his death.

The stamp design was engraved by Pierre Bequet, French engraver for stamps of France and its colonies including TAAF and has engraved more than 700 stamps.

Source: Wikipedia

Sunken Ships of the Adriatic

Date of Issue: April 14, 2011

Many thanks to my dear friend, Josip Mikolcic, Croatia for sending me this beautiful souvenir sheet on envelope.
The ship on stamp is a motor cargo ship "Elhawi Star", sunken in 1982 in front of the Rijeka harbor. The ship depicted in the souvenir sheet is illustration of the cargo steamer "Vis", sunken in 1946 alongside east coast of Istria, close the entrance to Plomin Bay.

There is no official register of wrecked ships in the Adriatic, but it is believed that Adriatic Sea is the richest sea in the world concerning shipwrecks. According to some data, there maybe about 15,000 wrecks in the Adriatic.

Text source: Brochure issued by Hrvatska Posta.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Mayday

Date of Issue: September 05, 1995
Scott #: 1628

Today is May 1st, celebrated in many countries as May Day / Labour Day / International Workers' Day; but what it is to do for a ship stamp collector? well, the term Mayday is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning 'come help me'.

It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by mariners and aviators but in some countries local organisations such as police forces, firefighters, and transportation organizations may also use the term.  Mayday calls are made by radio, such as a ship or aircraft's VHF radio. Although a Mayday call will be understood regardless of the radio frequency on which it is broadcast, first-line response organizations, such as the coastguard and air traffic control, monitor designated channels. A Mayday call is roughly equivalent of a morse code SOS, or a telephone call to the emergency services.

S.O.S. - SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal (· · · — — — · · ·). This distress signal was first adopted by the German government in radio regulations effective April 1, 1905, and became the worldwide standard under the second International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed on November 3, 1906 and became effective on July 1, 1908. SOS remained the maritime radio distress signal until 1999, when it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress Safety System. SOS is still recognized as a visual distress signal.

In popular usage, SOS became associated with such phrases as "save our ship" and "save our souls". These were a later development, a backronym chosen as a mnemonic. Because the SOS signal is a prosign, its respective letters have no inherent meaning: it was chosen because it was easy to remember.

Famous SOS Calls: RMS Titanic - The two radio operators aboard the Titanic—Jack Phillips and Harold Bride—were not employed by the White Star Line, but by the Marconi International Marine Communication Company. Following the sinking of the ocean liner, survivors were rescued by the RMS Carpathia of the Cunard Line. Also employed by the Marconi Company was David Sarnoff, the only person to receive the names of survivors immediately after the disaster via wireless technology. Wireless communications were reportedly maintained for 72 hours between the Carpathia and Sarnoff, but Sarnoff's involvement has been questioned by some modern historians. When the Carpathia docked in New York, Marconi went aboard with a reporter from The New York Times to talk with Bride, the surviving operator. On 18 June 1912, Marconi gave evidence to the Court of Inquiry into the loss of the Titanic regarding the marine telegraphy's functions and the procedures for emergencies at sea. Britain's postmaster-general summed up, referring to the Titanic disaster, "Those who have been saved, have been saved through one man, Mr. Marconi...and his marvelous invention."

Guglielmo Marconi - (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian inventor, known for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system.

Stamp Design: This stamp is one of the four stamps issued in 1995 on topic "Pioneers of Communication." I am astonished to learn so many details today from a single stamp. The stamp design shows Mr. Marconi using a radiophone, the term S.O.S., background showing sinking RMS Titanic and passengers on life boat.

Text Source: Wikipedia
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