Cancel On 1927 French Guinea Stamp-Ship Or ?

I was putting this 1927 Scott 112 1.50fr on 1fr deep blue & light blue "Ford at Kitim" French Guinea stamp into the album today and noticed this odd cancel.



"Vulcanus"
Amsterdam
Holland
West?

Is this a Ship cancel, something else, or was someone playing around with cancel and ink on this stamp?

I think the top line says Holland West Afrika, which would fit with the stamp.

The Vulcanus was launched in 1907, and displaced a little over 1800 tons. I haven't seen that mark before, but it would seem likely to be used as some sort of ship mail/paquebot cancel. I don't have any confirmation of that, though.

Here is the cover of a 1937 timetable for the line:



Your ship isn't listed in the timetable summary in 1937.

Very nice research, Cjd!

k

Here are the ports of call in 1937:

Outward bound: Hamburg, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Dakar, Freetown, Monrovia, Port Bouet, Takoradi, Accra, Lomé, Cotonou, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Victoria, Santa Isabel, Douala, Kribi.

Return voyage: Kribi, Lagos, Lomé, Accra, Takoradi, Port Bouet (Grand Bassam), Monrovia, Dakar, Le Havre, Amsterdam, Hamburg.

That would have been some kind of trip, no?

Thanks Cjd! Superb detective work.

Here is a link about the Holland West Africa Line and import/export of goods along west Africa ports...

http://books.google.com/books?id=oO...line&f=false

The article says the company often preferred to use small tramp steamers, thereby picking up cargoes at smaller ports, many with little depth of water at quayside.

Probably the mail pickup was Conakry, the Capital of French Guinea, the largest town, and a port on the Atlantic Ocean.

For good measure here is a SON Conakry postmark...


1c violet & blue "Ford at Kitim"

It appears that the Vulcanus drew 7 feet six inches, which, when you think about it, isn't much.

edit: Nice Conakry cancel.

Okay, this will be it, I promise:

More info about "a" Vulcanus...

(Edit) Note: I removed the information, because it was a false lead.

Nope, I think the pic is the wrong ship. I think this is your Vulcanus:

Vulcanus

Built by Nederlandsche Shipbuilding, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1907. 1818 gross tons; 286 (bp) feet long; 40 feet wide. Steam triple expansion engine, single screw. Service speed 10 knots.

Built for Dutch owners, in 1907 and named Vulcanus. Curacao, Cape Haitien and Amsterdam to New York 1918-1919 service. N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stmbt Maats, Amsterdam.

I came across the same information on the Ellis island logs...

--------------------------------------------------------
VULCANUS

Built by Nederlandsche Shipbuilding, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1907. 1818 gross tons; 286 (bp) feet long; 40 feet wide. Steam triple expansion engine, single screw. Service speed 10 knots.

Built for Dutch owners, in 1907 and named Vulcanus. Curacao, Cape Haitien and Amsterdam to New York 1918-1919 service. N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stmbt Maats, Amsterdam. Sold to Additional Arrivals, in 1957 and renamed Carlin. Was also the FIDELITAS and CARLO CROCE prior. Scrapped in 1959.
----------------------------------------------------
Yes, I think that is the one....

Thanks cjd.