vintage and contemporary postcards and stamps from around the world


25 October 2015

Sunday Stamps II - 45

Canada, issued August 2015
Souvenir Sheet of International stamp

The HMS Erebus, built in 1826 was abandonned in the ice of the Arctic in 1848 during the Franklin Expedition. After years of searching, it was found in 2014. The stamp shows a diagram of the upper deck on the right and a sonar image of the submerged ship on the left.  We know that none of the men on board survived, but what happened to them is still a mystery.  The Erebus, along with HMS Terror, were on a search for the Northwest Passage when they disappeared. 

for stamps commemorating battles or disasters
(and, yes, I now realize that this is more a stamp commemorating the finding of the ship than the disaster of losing it)


7 comments:

FinnBadger said...

That stamp and the story behind it are fantastic. The design is so clever.

Bob Scotney said...

Who cares whether it is just a commemorative of loss, the stamp and it's story deserve a place this week.

Mail Adventures said...

Me too, I love the design of this stamp.

viridian said...

I saw a TV special on this discovery of this ship. Really interesting.

Heleen said...

It is a beautiful stamp sheet on a sad fact I didn't know before. Thank you for sharing!

I am intriguid by the letters under the English and the French words. Is it a Canadian local / native language?

VioletSky said...

That is Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit people of Nunavut. The Inuit people had long claimed to have seen footprints and an abandonned ship at the time of the disappearance, but were not quite believed by everyone who was searching for the lost ships.

Heleen said...

Thank you, Violet, I had never seen Inuktitut writing before. Interesting (and sad that these people weren't believed, maybe the searchers missed an important chance/clue by this..).