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The label issued by 26th Philatelic Congress of Great Britain, held in Liverpool in 1939, purports to depict the Cunarder Britannia of 1840. I have seen the same illustration used by the Cunard Line with the caption Britannia, but according to the flag the vessel is flying on her mainmast there can be no doubt that the ship is the Caledonia, a sister ship of the Britannia; although in reverse, the name can quite clearly be seen on the flag. The Britannia is purported to be shown on the 121/2 cents New Brunswick stamp, though to my way of thinking the funnel appears to be too far forward and should be abaft the paddleboxes.
Label and New Brunswick SG18

Mali 1996 320fr sg?, scott831f
Great Britanny 2913 sg?, scott?
Britannia, 1840
Following the first crossings of the North Atlantic by steamships, the British government offered a contract worth £60,000 to carry mail to Canada and the United States. Nova Scotia’s Samuel Cunard and his British partners secured the commission and ordered four paddle steamers from Clydeside shipyards. The first of these was the Britannia, which, although fitted with sails, was powered by a steam engine constructed by Robert Napier. Her maiden voyage left Liverpool on 4 July 1840 to be greeted at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 12 days later by cheering crowds and fireworks.
Although Britannia and her sisters were soon superseded by faster, propeller driven steamers, they established one of Britain’s most enduring brand images. As the first steamer to carry letters under contract to Royal Mail, the Britannia added the abbreviation ‘RMS’ – ‘Royal Mail Ship’ – to the nautical lexicon.

Buongiorno,

Vi allego la scan di un francobollo di Antigua e Barbuda sul quale è raffigurato il paddle steamer BRITANNIA.

Saluti,

Mrcarlo

BRITANNIA, Paddle Steamer, built for Samuel Cunard's British & North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. (later to become the Cunard Steamship Co. Ltd.), by Robert Duncan & Co., at Greenock. Launched, February 5, 1840. Gross tonnage 1,156; nett 619. Length o.a. 228' 0". Breadth 34' 3"; breadth over paddle boxes 56' 0". First steamship to carry
mails between Gt. Britain and America. She had side lever engines of 440 n.h.p. constructed by Robert Napier, the I.H.P. being being 740. Normal speed 8.5 knots. She left Liverpool on her maiden voyage July 4,1840. Completed 40 Atlantic crossings, her best steaming being 280 miles in one day. Sold to German Government in 1849 for conversion to a war¬ship. Later her engines were removed and she was a hulk for some years. Believed to have been broken up at Port Glasgow by her builder's son.
E W Argyle Log Book May 1972

Fujeira, 1968, 50d, N.C.; Granada, 1970, SG409 Cambodia SG1772

In March 1849 she was sold by Cunard to the German Confederation Navy and was renamed SMS Barbarossa. She had nine guns fitted, and was the flagship of the Reichsflotte under Karl Rudolf Brommy in the Battle of Heligoland. In June 1852 she was transferred to the Prussian Navy and used as a barracks ship at Danzig. In May 1880 she was decommissioned from the Prussian Navy and in July 1880 she was sunk as a target ship. (Wikipedia)

The 1135 ton wooden paddle steamer BRITANNIA, commanded by Captain Henry Woodruff, RN, undertook the first mail sailing on 4 July 1840 from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston, with 63 passengers, including Samuel Cunard himself.
Owing to delays in the completion of the ship the Admiralty had given their consent to a month's postpoment in the starting date of the contract; it was arranged that the forthnightly service would begin in the middle of September.
The BRITANNIA arrived at Halifax after a passage of 12 days 10 hours, stopped there for 8 hours and reached Boston, where she received a very welcome, in a nett time of 14 days 8 hours. Samuel Cunard received 1,873 invitations to dinner from the warm-hearted Bostonians.
Homewards, the steamer reached Liverpool from Halifax in the fast time of 10 days.

(Canada 2004, 49 c. StG.?)
Book: North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P. Bonsor