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R.M.S. Lady Drake
Montserrat $1.15 "Mail Packet Boats" Stamp depicting the
R.M.S. Lady Drake issued July 9, 1984
R.M.S. Lady Drake depicted on one of four "Ships"
stamps issued by Trinidad and Tobago on August 20, 1985.
R.M.S. Lady Drake depicted on one of four "125th Anniversary
of the U.P.U."stamps issued by Saint Lucia on October 9, 1999.
One of five sister steam turbine ocean liners popularly known as "Lady Boats" built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead, England in 1928 and 1929 for the Canadian National Steamship Company (CNS or CN), the Lady Drake was a Royal Mail Ship. It carried mail, freight and passenger traffic between Halifax, Nova Scotia (and Montreal during the summer) and the Caribbean and British Guiana via Bermuda. An oil-burner, she had a set of four Cammell Laird steam turbines driving the propeller shafts to her twin screws by single-reduction gearing. She had three passenger decks. The ships facilitated Canadian exports including lumber, and imports to Canada including fruit, sugar and molasses. The Lady-liners had refrigerated holds for perishable cargo such as fruit, and capacity for 100,000 bunches of bananas. Their hulls were painted white, a colour then confined largely to passenger ships serving tropical or sub-tropical destinations. On May 5, 1942 U-106 sank Lady Drake about 90 nautical miles (170 km) north of Bermuda, killing six passengers and six crew. Kelly, 141 passengers and 113 of his crew survived and were rescued by the US Navy minesweeper USS Owl, which landed them on Bermuda.
Bermuda Paquebot Cover with handstamp from the R.M.S. Lady Drake postmarked
August 17, 1937 franked with 3 cent King George VI Coronation stamp from Canada
Reverse of cover inscribed "Canadian National Steamships"
Cover handstamped "Posted on the High Seas R.M.S. Lady Drake with St. Kitts postmark and
"Received Southampton" Paquebot cancellation franked with Bermuda 1937 coronation issue
addressed to Capt. T.A. Smye, a notorious dealer in aerophilatelic and maritime items.
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Tuck's Post Card of the outer harbour of St. George's, Grenada dated September 14,
1928 with "MAILED ON THE HIGH SEAS" R.M.S. Lady Drake handstamp with Boston,
Mass. Paquebot cancellation (Hosking Type 1854) dated September 26 (?), 1938, franked
with King George VI 1 1/2d "Grand Etang" pictorial definitive issued March 16, 1938.
Article from The Montreal Gazette reporting on the prospects for increased trade
with the West Indies as a consequence of the introduction of the "Lady Boats."
Namesakes
Sir Francis Drake, associated with the defeat of the Spanish Armada as well as his privateering campaigns against Panama and Cartagena, is depicted in a set of four stamps issued by British Virgin Islands on September 26, 1980 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his circumnavigation of the globe. He shares with Sir John Hawkins a place on the $5 high value definitive of February 1, 1970 from St. Christopher, Nevis and Anguilla which bears the caption, “English Influence in the Caribbean began with Hawkins and Drake mid-16th century.”
Sir Francis Drake is depicted on a stamp issued by British Virgin Islands on September
26, 1980 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his circumnavigation of the globe.
Drake appears on the $5 high value definitive issued
February 1, 1970 from St. Christopher, Nevis and Anguilla.
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Sources
Horry, David. "The Maritime Postmarks of the British West Indies 1937-1935 Part 1."
Gibbons Stamp Monthly. Sep. 2009: 93-97.
"R.M.S. Lady Hawkins." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 11 Jun. 2022. Web. 21 Nov. 2022.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lady_Hawkins.
"Trade Chances with the West Indies Seen." The Montreal Gazette. 20 Mar. 1929: 3.
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© Derrick Grose, 2022
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