1869 12c S.s. Adriatic

The 12c value in the 1869 pictorial series (Scott #117) shows the steamship Adriatic, which was launched in 1856.

At the time, a shipping company in New York owned by Edward Collins was determined to dominate transatlantic
trade in the North Atlantic by consistently making the crossing with mail ships in under 10 days.

To best his British rivals, Collins planned a new steamship that would be bigger, faster and
more luxurious than the rest, the Adriatic.

She was 355 feet long and weighed 3,670 tons, with a maximum speed of 13 knots.

However the Adriatic only made one voyage for Collins' company,
because his enemies in Congress managed to cancel his government mail contract.

The company folded and its ships were sold at auction.

In the service of her new owners, the Adriatic made a crossing from Galway to Newfoundland in only
5 days, 19 hours and 45 minutes.





Over thirty thousand people watched the Launch of the Adriatic as reported in the New York Times on April 8, 1856.

That is an absolutely beautiful stamp.

I was just reading about the USS Monitor yesterday -- I stumbled across a nicely centered Ericsson Memorial at the store yesterday and brought it home, and was refreshing my memory as to who he was -- the Wikipedia page has an engraving of the Monitor sinking that has another ship in the background that looks a lot like this one.

I really like that series of stamps -- I only have the locomotive one, in somewhat dicey condition...

t360: Great example of the 117.

Stahlhart: I remember learning about the Monitor and the Merrimack in elementary school.

What a beautifully centered expample. It is amazing how about the historical ramifications of such things! Thanks for the post. Most interesting!

Thank you everyone! I have had this stamp a long time. I think I bought it in the late eighties or early nineties.

Good on ya t360,
It is fantastic stamp and I too remember it from schooling days.

Great stamp and history to go along with Tom

Thanks once again for sharing with us.

Dianne

Tom!I've been down with the flu for the last week and didn't feel up to posting on anything,though looking at this thread and the history behind the stamp you get my for a great and interesting story,also this is a very nice example of a Scott's #117.
Thanks Tom for your constant effort and knowledge.
regards
Harry