Auction No. 10 Saturday, 8 October 2011 / 5:00 pm start

Lot 1702 « Prev Lot All Search Results Next Lot »

1930 SS Tahiti postcard of Whakarewarewa with ...

Estimate $250

Category: Miscellaneous  >  Disaster Mail

Lot Details

1930 SS Tahiti postcard of Whakarewarewa with matching cds on stamp on front. On 18th August 1930, whilst on route from Wellington, New Zealand to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, the British steamer "Tahiti" was abandoned at 2.28am after a broken propeller had caused a gash in the hull & water flooded into the hold. The steamers, "Ventura" & "Penybryn" which had come to render assistance, took on board the passengers & crew & the majority of the letter mail. Nine bags were lost as was the entire 139 bags of newspapers, packages & parcel mail when the Tahiti sank at 4.42pm the same day. Of the salvaged bags, 50 were damaged by seawater. This postcard addressed to Austria had the cachet "DAMAGED BY SEA WATER" (Hoggarth & Gwynn Type 5) applied in violet. Evident signs of water staining but stamp still affixed.

1930 SS Tahiti postcard of Whakarewarewa with ... Image 1++