International Ship Mail

The handling of international ship mail during the George VI definitive period (1937-1953) was governed by the Universal Postal Convention:

Prepayment of correspondence on board ships 

Correspondence mailed on the high seas, in the box on board a vessel, or handed to postal agents on board or to the commanders of vessels, may be prepaid, barring contrary agreement between the Administrations concerned, by means of the postage stamps and according to the postage rates of the country to which the said vessel belongs or by which it is maintained. If the mailing on board takes place during the stay at one of the two terminal points of the voyage or at one of the ports of call, the prepayment is valid only if it is effected by means of the postage stamps and according to the postage rates of the country in whose waters the vessel happens to be.

This post show covers franked with the George VI definitives from several ports of call, many of which feature "PAQUEBOT" markings.

[Readers interested in Paquebot cancellations will find the Paquebot.Info site to be an excellent source of information]

Aden

Aden to London,May 17, 1939

Australia

Freemantle to Braintree, Mass., U.S., May 2, 1939

Bahamas

Nassau to Richmond, Va., U.S., October 11, 1938

Nassau to Elizabeth, N.J., U.S., August 22, 1939

Canada

Halifax

Halifax to Paterson, N.J., U.S., August 4, 1937

Cunard White Star "Georgic"

Halifax to Bukinham, England, December 10, 1947

Paquebot
Posted At Sea
Received

Quebec City

Quebec to Toronto, June 5, 1937

Quebec to Hamilton, June 17, 1941

Quebec to Osteley Isleworth, England, June 8, 1951

Ceylon

Colombo to Hinsdale , N.H., U.S., March 7, 1938

Egypt

Port Said to Aberdeen, July 28, 1938

Port Taufid to Hamilton, Canadam April 23, 1938

Falkland Islands

Port Stanley to London, February 1938

France 

Le Havre to Bridgwater, N.H., U.S., June 21, 1938

 

Le Havre to Latvian Displaced Persons Camp, Lubeck, Germany British Zone, June 24, 1948

Cunard White Star "Samaria" - "Scythia"

Le Havre to London, September 29, 1951

Marseille to Jansen, Saskatchewan, October 13, 1938

Gibraltar

Gibraltar to New York, January 17, 1938

Great Britain


London

Posted on Board HMS "Atlantis" April 8, 1939, while at ship at sea
Entered postal system at London, April 11, 1939

Plymouth

Plymouth to Rochester, N.Y., August 21, 1939

"S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam"

Plymouth to New York, July 8, 1939

Elder Dempster Line - M.V.s "Accra" and "Apada"

Southhampton

Southampton to Chicago, January 19, 1938

Southampton to Washington, D.C., October 8, 1949

Southampton to Fort Myers, Fla., April 11, 1951

Southampton to Jones, Michigan, July 28, 1953

S.S. "United States"

India

Bombay to Romford, England, August 29, 1940

Italy

Naples

Naples to London, 9-11-38

Palermo

Palermo to Saginaw, Mich., 3-9-53

Venice

Venice to Laughton, England, May 19, 1938

Jamaica

Kingston to Union, New Jersey, September 23, 1938

Norway

Bergen to Lee-on-the-Solent, April 8, 1952

Portugal

Lisbon to Purley, England, July 19, 1951

South Africa

Cape Town

Cape Town to Exmouth, England, July 4, 1940

Cape Town to East London, South Africa, September 16, 1952

Durban

Durban to Poona, India, October 8, 1937

Sweden

Stockholm to Wolverhampton, England, August 11, 1938

United States 

New York to Toronto, July 19, 1947

Cunard White Star : The New "Mauritania"