Check out this cool 1979 envelope.
It was mailed paquebot off Gough Island, with all kinds of outrageous postmarks on the envelope.
Paquebot cancellations on postage stamps indicate that the mail was posted on a ship at sea and canceled at the ship’s next port of call.
The term paquebot is French for “packet boat” (steam ship, steam vessel) and signifies that the mail was handled according to international regulations for mail posted on vessels. These cancellations are distinct from regular postmarks and are often sought after by collectors.
S.A. Agulhas is a South African ice-strengthened training ship and former polar research vessel. She was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Shimonoseki, Japan, in 1978. S.A. Agulhas retired from Antarctic service in April 2012 when the replacement vessel, S. A. Agulhas II, was commissioned. She was transferred to the South African Maritime Safety Authority as a training ship.
Mailed paquebot off Gough Island on Nov. 2, 1979.
Penguin and Gough Island coordinates. Gough Island is home to northern rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes moseleyi).
Neutron research postmark from University of Potchefstroom in South Africa. The main scientific station on Gough Island is a South African weather station, which has been in operation since 1956. The Physics department at Potch University studied cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are primarily composed of high-energy particles, with about 90% being protons (hydrogen nuclei). Neutrons are secondary particles that are knocked out of atoms in the earth’s atmosphere.
The blue helicopter postmark is most likely a commemorative or mission-specific cachet used on mail handled during the 1979 Gough Island expedition. The 22 might refer to a flight number or a team identification.
The Cape Town postmark of Nov. 17, 1979 likely marks the arrival of the vessel there, at which time it was dispatched to the street address in Stellenbosch.
The 4c stamp is from South Africa’s Third Definitive Series
Issued May 27, 1977 |4c Protea longifolia |Perf. 12½ |Photogravure |Fluorescent paper |No watermark
The island is also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares, and is a rugged volcanic island (area 35 mi²) in the South Atlantic Ocean.
It is a dependency of the Tristan da Cunha island group and part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Nobody lives on Gough Island except for the workers of a weather station, which is usually six people. The South African National Antarctic Programme has maintained the island with British permission since 1956.
[From Wikipedia]
[Map in Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection by Rand McNally and published in 1984 in an atlas by Encyclopdia Britannica]
Unfortunately, it would be 18 more years after 1979 before these stamps featuring the Antarctic skua would be issued.
South Africa Sixth Definitive Series (Endangered Fauna, Redrawn)
Issued Aug. 27, 1997 |R1.20 Antarctic skua (additional value to series first issued in 1993) |Perf. 14×14¼ |Lithography |Coated paper |No Watermark