H4904

U.S. Merchant Marine

Container Ship

Collins Cover Announcement 

Merchant Marine Ships

Container Ship

Currently the United States Merchant Marine fleet consists of approximately 500 ships and about 100,000 individual mariners. American companies own about another 700 ships, but since they fly the flag of other nations they are not included in the fleet. The U.S. Government maintains merchant ships in the Military Sealift Command and the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

The individually hand painted cachet depicts the SS Ideal X which was the first container ship. Pioneered in the 1950s, these huge vessels are the life-blood of today's global economy. They carry virtually all manufactured goods across the vast oceans, and they make up almost all of America's current Merchant Marine fleet.

The Ideal X shown on this cachet was a converted World War II oil tanker. It was designed to carry large shipping containers, and on her maiden voyage on April 26, 1956 the ship carried 58 containers from Newark, New Jersey to Houston, Texas. The Ideal X was 524 feet long and sailed for America's Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company only until 1959 when she was acquired by Bulgarian owners. On February 8, 1964 the Ideal X suffered extensive damage in heavy seas, and on October 8th of that year was scrapped in Hirao, Japan.

In a little less than a decade of service, the converted World War II oil tanker had ushered in the Age of the Container ship which assured her place in Maritime history. My container ship First Day Cover featuring the historic Ideal X is now ready. Collins #H4904 at $14.00.