The GermanStamps.net Collection

The GermanStamps.net Collection

Germany & Related Areas, 1872 – 1945

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Ship Post

Marine Schiffspost Postal Stationery

MiNr. P1 (397f) MiNr. P1 (397f)
MiNr. P1 (797f) MiNr. P1 (797f)
MiNr. P1 (798f) MiNr. P1 (798f)

From Jun 1897 to 30 Apr 1899, this postal stationery card was available for use by crews of ships of the German Navy. It is distinguished by the arched phrase “Nur für Marine-Schiffsposten” (“Only for Naval Ship Post”) over the stamp. The Mar 1897 (397 f) and Jul 1897 (797 f) printings can be found used. The Jul 1898 (798 f) printing was available in Berlin only, and was not postally used.

As Marine Schiffspost, it was intended for use only on ships of the German Navy, and is almost exclusively found with ship cancels.

This No. 10 card bears a rare handwritten cancel which was used in the first years of issue, before introduction of a circular cancel. It was canceled on the cruiser Condor, which was in Dar-es-Salaam from 29 Jun – 11 Sep 1897. 

MiNr. P1 (No. 10)<br/>(front) MiNr. P1 (No. 10)
(front)
MiNr. P1 (No. 10)<br/>(back) MiNr. P1 (No. 10)
(back)

On rare occasions, the on-board postal clerk failed to cancel a piece of mail before it left the ship.  These uncanceled pieces of mail are not the result of damaged or lost cancellers as with several provsional issues, but were merely the result of negligence by the postal clerks.  The items were subsequently canceled with handwritten cancellations (Nachträgliche Entwertungen) upon receipt at the Marine-Postbureau in Berlin.

As of the publication of Pohlmann and Kessing’s Handbuch und Katalog der deutschen Marine-Schiffspost und Marinepost 1895-1914 in 2009, ten of these items with handwritten MSP cancellations were known. 

The use of handwritten Nachträgliche Entwertungen stopped in early 1900, when the Berlin C1 postal cancel began being used for this purpose.

MiNr. P1 (No. 6)<br />(front) MiNr. P1 (No. 6)
(front)
MiNr. P1 (No. 6)<br />(back) MiNr. P1 (No. 6)
(back)

Despite being intended for use only on ships of the German Navy, instances exist of the card being used ashore, such as these uses from Yokohama Naval Hospital (Yokohama Marine Lazarett, or YML), Tsingtau, Kiauchau, and Shanghai.

Additionally, this card was improperly used at the French post office in Shanghai.  It subsequently received a transit cancel from Hong Kong, before having the indicia properly canceled while in transit though Herbertshöhe, German New Guinea.

MiNr. P1<br/>(Shanghai [France]) (front) MiNr. P1
(Shanghai [France]) (front)
MiNr. P1<br/>(Shanghai [France]) (back) MiNr. P1
(Shanghai [France]) (back)

Finally, this copy of the card was used by a German crewmember of the cruiser SMS Prinzess Wilhelm while it was in Manila monitoring the American blockade.  It is unusual in that the card wasn’t mailed through the normal German post, but rather through the U.S. postal system, with a U.S. stamp and a cancel from the Philippine Station, San Francisco.

MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)<br/>(front) MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)
(front)
MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)<br/>(back) MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)
(back)

Set Date(s)

c. 1895-1914

Album Page(s)

Certificate(s)

Marine Schiffspost Postal Stationery

MiNr. P1 (397f) MiNr. P1 (397f)
MiNr. P1 (797f) MiNr. P1 (797f)
MiNr. P1 (798f) MiNr. P1 (798f)

From Jun 1897 to 30 Apr 1899, this postal stationery card was available for use by crews of ships of the German Navy. It is distinguished by the arched phrase “Nur für Marine-Schiffsposten” (“Only for Naval Ship Post”) over the stamp. The Mar 1897 (397 f) and Jul 1897 (797 f) printings can be found used. The Jul 1898 (798 f) printing was available in Berlin only, and was not postally used.

As Marine Schiffspost, it was intended for use only on ships of the German Navy, and is almost exclusively found with ship cancels.

This No. 10 card bears a rare handwritten cancel which was used in the first years of issue, before introduction of a circular cancel. It was canceled on the cruiser Condor, which was in Dar-es-Salaam from 29 Jun – 11 Sep 1897.

MiNr. P1 (No. 10)<br/>(front) MiNr. P1 (No. 10)
(front)
MiNr. P1 (No. 10)<br/>(back) MiNr. P1 (No. 10)
(back)

On rare occasions, the on-board postal clerk failed to cancel a piece of mail before it left the ship.  These uncanceled pieces of mail are not the result of damaged or lost cancellers as with several provsional issues, but were merely the result of negligence by the postal clerks.  The items were subsequently canceled with handwritten cancellations (Nachträgliche Entwertungen) upon receipt at the Marine-Postbureau in Berlin.

As of the publication of Pohlmann and Kessing’s Handbuch und Katalog der deutschen Marine-Schiffspost und Marinepost 1895-1914 in 2009, ten of these items with handwritten MSP cancellations were known. 

The use of handwritten Nachträgliche Entwertungen stopped in early 1900, when the Berlin C1 postal cancel began being used for this purpose.

MiNr. P1 (No. 6)<br />(front) MiNr. P1 (No. 6)
(front)
MiNr. P1 (No. 6)<br />(back) MiNr. P1 (No. 6)
(back)

Despite being intended for use only on ships of the German Navy, instances exist of the card being used ashore, such as these uses from Yokohama Naval Hospital (Yokohama Marine Lazarett, or YML), Tsingtau, Kiauchau, and Shanghai.

Additionally, this card was improperly used at the French post office in Shanghai.  It subsequently received a transit cancel from Hong Kong, before having the indicia properly canceled while in transit though Herbertshöhe, German New Guinea.

MiNr. P1<br/>(Shanghai [France]) (front) MiNr. P1
(Shanghai [France]) (front)
MiNr. P1<br/>(Shanghai [France]) (back) MiNr. P1
(Shanghai [France]) (back)

Finally, this copy of the card was used by a German crewmember of the cruiser SMS Prinzess Wilhelm while it was in Manila monitoring the American blockade.  It is unusual in that the card wasn’t mailed through the normal German post, but rather through the U.S. postal system, with a U.S. stamp and a cancel from the Philippine Station, San Francisco.

MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)<br/>(front) MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)
(front)
MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)<br/>(back) MiNr. P1 (U.S. Usage)
(back)

Set Date(s)

c. 1895-1914

Album Page(s)

Certificate(s)