Thursday 9 March 2017

USS Augusta at North Borneo


The above pair of stamps from the Marshall Islands commemorated the Atlantic Charter in 1941. This was a joint declaration by US President Franklin D Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 14 August 1941 following their meeting on board the USS Augusta while she was moored at naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland. The charter provided a statement of US and British war aims. The pair of stamps also depicted the respective ships USS Augusta and HMS Prince of Wales, the latter bigger and more impressive. The more modern British ship displaced 43,786 tons, more than 4 times that of the Augusta. 



She visited Sandakan between the 14th and 16th December 1934 on her way from the Dutch East Indies to the Philippine Islands. She was under the command of Captain C M Nimitz. The Sandakan covers are more difficult than the Jesselton counterpart. I really like the second cover with the sender details. It looks like commercial mail which is rare among this group of mainly made to order covers. These two do not have the same date.
On Friday the 14th, Admiral F B Upham, Commander-in -Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet, together with Lieutenant E S Pearce arrived to stay at The Government House as guests of the Governor Sir Douglas James Jardine and his wife. They left on Sunday the 16th. 


USS Augustus was at Jesselton between the 3rd and the 5th of November 1935 during her journey between Singapore and Zamboanga in the Philippines. The ship was under the flagship of Admiral Orin G Murfin and the command of Captain F X Gygax.

This is another nice cover with Augusta visiting Pontianak in Kalimantan, Borneo. Note the date is a few days before that of Jesselton. 

2 comments:

  1. you posted an informative post about USS Augusta at North Borneo. these stamps really seem too old and antique. i am impressed with your work. Keep sharing the best stuff out there.

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  2. Classic beautiful USA design but would have been better in 2 colours like the North Borneo stamps.

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