Kurt A. Sanftleben, LLC
"Marian"
1934 - Mail delivered to New York City by a mail plane catapaulted from the ocean liner, S. S. Europa
$100
Item Details
S. S. Europa off the coast of New York, 1934, Unbound
Very good
The envelope is franked with two Nazi-Era German airmail stamps (25 and 50 pfennig) that are cancelled with a "Deutsch-Ameri. Seapost / Bremen-New York" flag postmark with "D. Europa /N.D.L" in the stripes. It also has a "Mit Vorausflug nach New York" (Advance Flight to New York) handstamp, and pictorial circular "Deutscher Schleuderflug / Dampfer Europa - New York" (German Catapult Flight / Steamer Europa - New York) handstamp. The Nord Deutscher Lloyd line's logo is printed in the lower left corner.
Marian's letter reads in part,
"This is a marvellous boat, the largest thing I have ever been in. So many Americans on it and everybody so anxious to get home. . ..
"Think the mail might leave earlier than when the boat arrives, they say it leaves by hydroplane 24 hours earlier than docking. . .."
To speed up mail delivery between Europe and the Americas, a few shipping lines added steam-driven or compressed-air-driven catapults onto the decks of their luxury ocean liners like the Bremen and Europa beginning in 1929. Approximately one day before a ship reached its destination (about 125 to 625 miles), an on-board small seaplane or flying boat o was fueled and loaded with urgent mail and positioned on the catapult. The catapult accelerated the aircraft down a short rail, launching it into the air at almost 100 miles per hour. The plane, then, flew ahead of the ship, delivering the mail to the mainland many hours or even a full day before the liner docked. Beginning in May 1931, these letters received an official postal stamp reading "Deutscher Schleuderflug"
Kurt A. Sanftleben, LLC
Kurt Sanftleben
11 Hope Road Suite 111-256
Stafford, VA, 22025
United States
Phone: 540-288-8429
Cell: 571-409-0144
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