ROYAL barque 1881

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ROYAL barque 1881

Post by shipstamps » Tue Jan 13, 2009 3:20 pm

Sao Tome e Principe issued a Souvenir Sheet in 1988 to commemorate the 150th birthday of Graf Zeppelin. Two stamps of Db10 in the M.S. depict the barque ROYAL.

She was built in 1881 by A Hendriksen at Arendal, Norway for Chr. Th. Boe and others also from Arendal.
Launched under the name ROYAL.
Tonnage 688,76 gross, 633,14 net, 900 dwt., dim. 158.3 x 34 x 19.1ft.
Wooden hull, barque rigged.

1906 Sold to Skibs-A/S Royal (Chr Ellefsen), Frederikstad, Norway.
April 1915 sold to A/S Royal (A/S Hansen & Hermansen), Porsgrund, Norway, he was the last owner under Norway flag.

From the last voyage under the flag of Norway, appears and interesting article in the newspaper “Telemark Arbeiderblad, Skien” which appeared in 1979.

The Chief journalist of the paper was the son of the first mate of the ROYAL, Aksel Zachariassen who was on board during the voyage. This journalist searched for old crewmembers of the ROYAL and found the ships boy Frederik Nordlie still alive.

From him and an other article which appeared in Navicula No 164/5 comes the following story.

Frederik Nordlie signed on the ROYAL as ships boy on the 24 March 1917 when the vessel was at Langesund, Norway loading a cargo of timber for England. The weather was not good and some repair on the jib boom delayed the sailing. Just before Easter 1917 the ROYAL set sail with a crew of 12 men under command of Capt. Thorstensen.

On 23 April 1917 the ships boy, on look out on the fore-castle sighted a small spot in the sky. He informed Capt. Thorstensen. Two hours later a Zeppelin descended near the ROYAL. She was Zeppelin L23 under command of Capt. Bockholt.

The L23 sighted the ROYAL in a position 50 miles from the Light Vessel HORNS RIFF. She was flying at an altitude of 3000 meters, and after sighting the barque she first carefully raised 500 meters, afraid of being shot down by a big gun on the vessel. When the Zeppelin crew found out that the ROYAL carried not any gun, she dived down and dropped a bomb before the bow of the ROYAL. The ROYAL braced back her sail and stopped. Then the L23 dropped with the gondola on the water near to the ROYAL. A boat from the ROYAL rowed with the ships papers and loading manifest to the airship. The cargo manifest showed that she was carrying a load of mine timber for England.

She was carrying a contraband cargo and declared a prize ship; three crewmembers from the L23 boarded the ROYAL and seized it, ordering the crew to do their duties.
The next morning a German destroyer appeared and a navy prize crew was put on board.

At first the crew of the ROYAL were locked up in their quarters, but when the German naval men found out they could not handle the sails and rigging properly they were released and made do the sailing.

The next evening the ROYAL reached Cuxhaven and stayed overnight, sailing further upriver the next morning, arriving at Hamburg-Altona the same day.

The crew was kept on board under guard until disembarking arrangements had been made. Mr. Nordlie signed off at the Norwegian Consulate on 08 May 1917 and was sent home by train via Warnemunden together with the other crew members.

The stamp depicts the capture by the airship. The event was reported in the Danish newspaper Politikken, which carried a full-page story, and in the Norwegian picture magazine Krig og Fred (War and Peace) which published a primitive drawing of the event. It appears this drawing was the basis for the painting by
German naval artist Robert Schmidt which was used as the design of the stamp. You can find a photo of the painting on http://www.zeppelin-museum.dk/D/german/ ... pelin.html

The ROYAL was seized by the German Court and put up for sale.
Sailing under the German flag from 1918 –1920 as JILDIZ (WP got YLDIS), owner Deutschen Petroleum-Verkaufs-Ges., Hamburg.
1920 Sold to Neptun-Seeschiffahrts A.G., Flensburg and renamed AMPHITRITE.
1922 Sold to G.Franz Prochaska, Hamburg, not renamed.
Later that year sold to Kleemann & Motz, Hamburg and renamed FREYA.
1924 Sold to Adler-Reederei A/G, Hamburg and renamed WERWOLF.
She was scrapped 1924/1925.

What was the fate of Zeppelin L23 and her commander. A plane airlifted from the cruiser HMS YARMOUTH shot down the L23 on 21 August 1917 off the coast of Jutland.

Two stamps in the MS depict a Zeppelin near the Russian icebreaker MALYGIN during an exchange of mail in the Arctic waters.

The other two stamps show a Zeppelin above an Allied convoy, the ships till so far not identified.

Sao Tome e Principe 1988 10d sg?, scott 829a


Translated from Navicula 155 page 2777 and 164 page 3255, and copied some from Watercraft Philately Vol. 39 page 5.
Attachments
L23kapertRoyalbyAdolfBock_zps95bbe2b0.jpg
Scan 2.jpeg

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