Seapost -> United States Sea Posts
United States Sea Posts
By Roger Hosking
This envelope was posted from the 4th sailing of the SS New York using the new US Seapost cancel and could be the earliest known posting, dated May 20th 1893
Although the seapost routes operated by the US Post Office are by no means as numerous or widespread as those of their French and German counterparts, their cancellations (applied to passenger mail), and their ancillary markings (on mail sorted in transit), still provide an interesting field of study. The service began in 1891 and ended in 1942, i.e. just after the American declaration of war in December 1941. There are four main geographical groupings, as follows:-
1. Transatlantic (1891-1939). This comprised a purely US service, and also joint services with the German, British, and French post offices, the last two being rather short-lived. Routes were from New York to Hamburg/Bremen, Liverpool/Plymouth/Southampton, and Le Havre/Bordeaux. [See also British Transatlantic Sea Post Offices and French Sea Posts.]
2. Transpacific (1922-1939). An all-American effort, with routes from San Francisco / Seattle to Hong Kong / Manila numbered from 1 to 4.
3. Central America, with routes from New York to Porto Rico (1912-1942), and from New York to the Canal Zone (1907-1932).
4. South America, with routes from New York to Valparaiso (1928-1941), and from New York to Buenos Aires (1926-1941) from a number of different vessels.
This cover was posted on the Atlantic route from the SS Leviathan in 1927 with a number 10 in the postmark. It was used from 1927 until 1934.
Detailed information about these seapost services has over the years been scattered around in numerous magazine articles, leaflets, and booklets, which has made it difficult to get a comprehensive overview of them. The Society hopes, in the course of the next twelve months to publish a book which will consolidate existing knowledge and to update it with the considerable amount of new information which has come to light since the last publication 27 years ago.
Bibliography:
For the moment, the following will be found very useful:
The Transatlantic Post Office, by Roger Hosking, Oxted, June 1979.
United States Sea Post Cancellations Part I Transatlantic Routes, P Cockrill, Cockrill Series
Booklet No 54. ISBN No 947628 59 2
