Transatlantic liners on postage stamps
The Polish Post has introduced three postage stamps from the "Polish Transatlantics" issue into circulation. Each has a circulation of 140,000. The new "Polish Transatlantics" series arrived at post offices across the country on July 23rd.
The stamps were designed by the artist Marzanna Dąbrowska, and the three Polish pre-war ocean liners depicted on them: SS Polonia, SS Pułaski and SS Kościuszko, were painted by the marine artist Adam Werka.
The first stamp depicts the ocean liner SS Polonia. This steamship was built in Glasgow in 1910. It arrived in Poland in 1930 and was initially operated by the Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company (PTTO), and then, from October 1934, by Gdynia-Ameryka Linie Żeglugowe SA. The SS Polonia served the Gdynia-Copenhagen-Halifax-New York route, and from 1933, the so-called Palestine Line, running the route Constanta-Istanbul-Yafo-Haifa-Piraeus-Istanbul-Constanta.
The second stamp depicts the ocean liner SS Kościuszko. This ship, like the Polonia, was acquired by the Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company in 1930. It sailed on the New York, Palestine, and South American routes, as well as a cruise ship. On the eve of World War II, it was assigned to Great Britain. In 1941, it was transferred to the Polish Navy, where it operated as a troop transport, participating in, among other operations, the landings in Sicily.
The third steamship featured on the "Polish Transatlantic Liners" stamp series is the SS Pułaski. It sailed under the Polish flag from 1930 on the Gdynia-New York route. In 1932, the steamship transported the Polish Olympic team to the Los Angeles Games. In 1936, the SS Pułaski was redirected to the Gdynia-Buenos Aires route. After the outbreak of World War II, it transported Polish soldiers, previously interned in Hungary and Romania, to France, where they could join the Polish army being formed there and continue fighting alongside the Allies.
The Polish Post has added the "Polish Transatlantic Liners" series to its themed first-day envelopes. They depict individual ships in paintings by Adam Werka in wartime attire, as well as their sketches by Marek Twardowski.
For over a quarter of a century, Polish passenger liners have been absent from transatlantic routes – they were replaced by airplanes. The white-and-red flag flew on them for 57 years. The history of Polish ocean passenger shipping was shaped by nine transatlantic liners and the several thousand sailors and officers who worked on them. In addition to this year's three, Poczta Polska plans to showcase six more transatlantic liners in the coming years: the Piłsudski, the Batory, the Sobieski, the Chrobry, the Jagiełło, and the Stefan Batory.
About stamps:
Designed by: Marzanna Dąbrowska
Number of stamps: 3
Value: PLN 3.30 each
Mintage: 140,000 pieces of each stamp
Printing technique: offset
Stamp format: 76.5 x 31.25 mm
Sales sheet: 6 stamps
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