Posted 13 years ago
packrat-pl…
(310 items)
Today I would like to share this envelope, I believe it dates from 1937. As you can see, it has been around, they ran out of room on the front, so they started stamping and writing on the back.
Apparently it was on the Steamship Manhattan, here is a little background info.
At the time of its construction, the Manhattan, built by New York Shipbuilding, was the largest liner ever built in the United States, and was the first large liner built in the US since 1905.
“Beginning in August 1932, Manhattan flew the US Lines flag on the New York-Hamburg route, a route she would continue to serve with only one short break until December 1939, when Roosevelt invoked the 1939 Neutrality Act against Germany. In 1936 the ship carried the US Olympic team to the Olympic Games in Berlin. From January 1940 until Italy's entry into World War II in June 1940, Manhattan sailed between New York and Genoa. In January 1941, while in coastal service on the Atlantic seaboard, Manhattan went aground just off the Florida beaches nine miles north of Palm Beach She was finally refloated after 22 days.”
“On 6 June, 1941, Manhattan was requisitioned and leased by the US Navy, and was subsequently commissioned as the troopship USS Wakefield on 15 June, 1941. Assigned a Coast Guard crew under Commander Wilfrid N. Derby, she became the largest vessel ever operated by the Coast Guard.
Manhattan would never reenter commercial service. On 3 September 1942, while en route from Clyde to New York as part of convoy TA-18, fire broke out aboard. Taken in tow by the Canadian Salvage vessel Foundatiom Franklin Wakefield reached Halifax under tow five days later, she was still burning, and by the time the last flames were extinguished, her hull was effectively gutted. Paid off by the US Navy, she was towed to Boston Navy Yard and rebuilt to troopship specifications.
I have included a photo of an old postcard to show what the liner looked like.
enjoy
Thank you very much for the love and nice comment BELLIN68, Manikin & walksoftly
Thank you very much for the love and for visiting ttomtucker & pickingupbones.
Thank you very much BELLIN68 and the same to you, my friend.
Thank you very much bratjdd for the love.