UK Post Cards - Disaster Mail

RAILWAY DISASTER MAIL
Copyrights - 1993 Richard Blake Post Cards
The Mardens Tupwood Lane Caterham Surrey CR3 6ET
Second Printing

Post Card front side , from top :

1879 - 28th December / N.B.R. Dundee bound train wrecked when the Tay Bridge collapses in violent gale
http://taybridgedisaster.co.uk/

1890 - 11th November/ G.W.R. Cape Mail from Plymouth crashes into goods train at Norton Fitzwarren.
http://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/.../Norton.html

1894 - 22nd December / L.N.W.R. Manchester Mail collides with goods waggon at Chelford near Crewe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelfo...ail_accident

If I get this right - these are post cards commemorating rail accidents - not mail that was damaged or lost in an accident - which is what "lost at sea" and "crash air mail" is all about. Did I get that right?

WRECK MAIL -
Post Card Copyrights - 1993 Richard Blake Post Cards
The Mardens Tupwood Lane Caterham Surrey CR3 6ET
Second Printing,( see above )



Post Card front side , from top :

HMS Lutine (1779)
A frigate which served in both the French Navy and the Royal Navy. She was launched by the French in 1779. The ship passed to British control in 1793 and was taken into service as HMS Lutine. She sank among the West Frisian Islands during a storm in 1799.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lutine_(1779)
The bullion was insured by Lloyds of London so they claimed any salvage rights. Many attempts over the years to recover the gold were made but with the exception of some small amounts, they were unsuccessful. The last attempt was in 1990.

One cannon salvaged in 1806 is on display at Windsor castle. Another is on display at the Guildhall, London.

The Lutine Bell

The ship's bell (engraved "ST. JEAN - 1779") was recovered on 17 July 1858. It was hung from the rostrum of the Underwriting Room at Lloyd's.

The bell was traditionally struck when news of an overdue ship arrived - once for the loss of a ship and twice for her return. The bell was sounded to ensure that all brokers and underwriters were made aware of the news simultaneously. The bell has developed a crack and the traditional practice of ringing news has ended: the last time it was rung to tell of a lost ship was in 1979 and the last time it was rung to herald the return of an overdue ship was in 1989.


- P&O SS Carnatic


A British steamship built in 1862-63 by Samuda Brothers at Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs, London, for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. She operated on the Suez to Bombay run in the last years before the Suez Canal was opened.
On 12 September 1869, she ran aground on Sha`b Abu Nuhas coral reef near Shadwan Island in the mouth of the Gulf of Suez, in the Red Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Carnatic


- RMS Empress of Ireland
An ocean liner that sank in the Saint Lawrence River following a collision with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in the early hours of 29 May 1914.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Em...s_of_Ireland

CRASH MAIL
Post Card - copyrights - 1993 Richard Blake Post Cards
The Mardens Tupwood Lane Caterham Surrey CR3 6ET
Second Printing ( see above )



From top :

CITY OF CAIRO - 19th April 1931

from "The ARGUS" , Tuesday April 21st 1931 ( page 7)

KOEPANG (Timor), April 20.
Messages nom Koepang indicate that the aeroplane City of Cairo carrying the first Airmail to Australia was damaged by landing on a rough field when short of petrol.
In an interview with a representative of the Australia Press association, the pilots of the City of Cairo said that from Soemba Island to Koepang they were flying against a strong headwind, which reduced the speed from 80 to 70 miles an hour. When near Koepang they found that the petrol was running low and they steered to a place three miles from Koepang. which in there opinion was a grassy field. But unfortunately hidden in the long grass were sharp stones and boulders which caused serious damage to the machine when it landed

SYDNEY Monday , 27 April (...) -in charge of -Air (...) Commodore Kingsford Smith(....) the Southern Cross recently remodelled for the Sydney Melbourne an air service of Australian National Airways, will leave Sydney tomorrow morning for Koepang to pick up the mails carried by the City of Cairo



- CITY OF WASHINGTON - 30th October 1930

The aircraft, was on a flight from London to Paris. During the approach onto Paris the aircraft stalled and crash. The aircraft crashed in a area of Paris called Boulogne. Three of the 6 passengers and crew on board died in the crash.
http://aviation-safety.net/database...d=19301030-0


- GRAND EXPRESS AERIENNE FARMAN GOLIATH - 14th May 1923

The Air Union Farman Goliath crash occurred on 14 May 1923 when Farman F.60 Goliath F-AEBY of Air Union crashed at Monsures, Somme, France following the structural failure of a wing in flight. All six people on board were killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_19...oliath_crash