INDIA RIVER MAIL CARRYING LONGBOAT

 

India issued in December 1997 a series of stamps for the Indepex ’97 World Philatelic Exhibition of which the 6.00R stamp shows us a sailing mail boat in one of the rivers of India.
By the stamp is given:
An experimental River Mail was commenced in 1828 by the Governor-General Lord William Bentinck for carrying mail via the river from Calcutta to Allahabad.
By 1834 the Prinsep enterprise was well established with longboats of six sails ( The stamp shows 4 sails) and with steam power in the bow and a rudder astern. These craft with a shallow draught could easily navigate the river with a depth of 2½ ft. of water at most places even at the height of the monsoon.
Though initially they were used only to transport parcels, later was this extended to the transport of goods and the mails.

Source: https://www.istampgallery.com/

Decommissioning of INS Ganga – 2018

INS Ganga of Indian Navy is the fourth ship to bear this illustrious name and was commissioned into Indian Navy on 30 Dec 1985. A Godavari class ship built by Mazagaon Docks ltd Mumbai was decommissioned on 22 Mar 2018 after 33 years of glorious Service to the Nation.

A Special Cover was released by Maharashtra Postal Circle on 21 Mar 2018 to commemorate the event.

INS Ganga, the second of the indigenously built ‘Godavari’ class guided missile frigate, was commissioned into the #IndianNavy on 30 December 1985. The ship has a displacement of 4,200 tonnes, a length of 125 metres and a beam of 14.4 metres and is capable of speed in excess of 25 knots. The ship is manned by a crew of 30 officers and 300 sailors. The ship is fitted with a medium range gun, close range anti-aircraft guns, surface to surface missiles, surface to air Barak missiles and torpedo launchers. The ship has a wide array of sensors which cover all facets of maritime warfare. In addition to operating a combination of Seaking, ALH and Chetak helicopters, the ship is also capable of operating UAVs over the sea. This enables the ship to perform a wide variety of roles including coastal and offshore patrolling, monitoring of Sea Lines of Communication, maritime diplomacy and counter terrorism and anti-piracy operations. The ship is one of the early examples of “Make in India” with respect to indigenous warship design and building capability, as it was designed entirely by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design and built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai. The ship is named after the holy Ganga River in North India flowing from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. The crest of Ganga represents the snow covered mountain peaks of the Himalayas which is the source of the river, with green valleys in the foreground and the river flowing through the valley in blue colour. The ship lives up to and by her motto of ‘Fight to Vanquish the Enemy’.

Swarnim Vijay Varsh - Golden-Jubilee-of-1971-War Golden Jubilee of 1971 War

 

Every year on December 16, the Indian Armed Forces commemorate "Vijay Diwas" to commemorate their unconditional surrender and resounding triumph over the Pakistani Armed Forces.Commander of Pakistan's Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, signed the Instrument of Surrender acknowledging a resounding loss in the Eastern Theatre. The 1971 historic triumph was the outcome of painstaking planning, creative leadership, and invention at all levels, and it was made possible by the bravery, gallantry, and professionalism of the commanders and men.

The stamp commemorates the iconic event in the history of the Indian Subcontinent. As its centerpiece, it carries the ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ logo, designed by Lieutenant Commander Kushal Chandrashekhar of the Indian Navy. The stamp is symbolic of the resilience and tenacity of soldiers, sailors, and airmen, who were motivated by their leaders and convinced by the righteousness of their cause.

Steamer "Alida", 1847 - 1880

 

The "Alida," a dayboat for Hudson River trade with a length of 265 feet, started making regular journeys between New York and Albany on April 16, 1847.She enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a passenger carrier, becoming a darling of the general public.

The "Alida" could travel at a pace of nearly 20 miles per hour, and on May 6, 1848, she achieved her greatest time between the two ends of her usual route when she completed the voyage with seven landings in eight hours and 18 minutes.
She continued in service for a few more years on the Albany route before being put on a regular route from Rondout to New York, performing a round-trip every day.She eventually took over the full run from Albany to New York.

Alfred Van Santvoord bought the "Alida" in November 1855, and the following year he ran her the entire length of the river with the steamboat "Armenia" as a companion.Commodore Van Santvoord, the new owner, was previously uninterested in the passenger carrying line but was well known for his work in river freight and towing. His first foray into this area of river navigation was with the "Alida." Later, in 1860, he launched the "Daniel Drew," after which he started using the "Alida" to transport passengers daily between Poughkeepsie and New York.

The Commodore must have thought his foray into the passenger shipping business to be quite successful because in 1863, he joined forces with other rivermen, added the "Armenia" to his fleet of three vessels (the "Alida," "Daniel Drew," and the "Armenia"), and laid the groundwork for the Albany Dayline, which is now known as the Hudson River Dayline.

For the Cornell line, the "Alida" only made one voyage, in December 1875.
After the passenger vessel "Sunnyside" capsized in West Park on the first of that month, it was decided to build a new vessel using the "Alidaengine. "'s

The "Alida" was dragged back to Port Ewen by the "Norwich" after being towed to New York, but her engine was discovered to be inadequate for the designed boat. She remained there until the summer of 1880, when Daniel Bigler purchased her and had her broken up off Port Ewen. 

 inputs: https:Alida

1914 WWI censored cover to SWEDEN. Which missed the ship!

 

Saw one interesting cover in one of the blogs , thought of sharing here the same...

Roo 2½d on 1914 WWI censored cover to SWEDEN. Which missed the ship!

Clean and fresh and attractive – especially for well over 100 years old.

Marked as Per ‘R.M.S. Mongolia’, and neat typed address to a Timber merchant, in small town Sundsvall in central Sweden.

Stamp is in SUPERB condition or wartime travel of 10,000 miles, – clean and well centred, with clear Sydney machine cancel of December 1, 1914.

‘OPENED BY CENSOR’ tape and a handwritten note on reverse, ‘retuned from Censor too late for dispatch’ with Sydney Ship Room cds on back of 2 DEC -14.

Commercial Mail from here to anywhere except UK and USA and NZ (or Switzerland for the huge amount of Red Cross mail) in WWI is scarce. To SWEDEN .. nearly unheard of.

 

Reference :https://stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=8831680&hilit=ship#p8831680

The Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage 27 May 1936

ON THIS DAY: 27th May 1936 

The Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage and won the Blue Riband that August; she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952, when it was taken by the new SS United States. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers during the conflict. The 80,000 + tonne British Liner sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she was permanently moored until the present day.

 

The Regina Maris cruise ship

 

The Regina Maris is a former cruise ship of the Lübeck -based shipping company Lübeck Linie , which entered service in 1966. The ship was sold in 1976, but was rebuilt from 1980 to 1982 under the old name for the Peter Deilmann shipping company . The Regina Maris was the first cruise ship built in Germany after 1939 .

In 1985 the ship was converted into a mega yacht and has been sailing as the Alexander ever since