The history of the Maritime mail

Hello, Steemians! Hi, friends! Today I will tell you about the history of sea mail in Russia. Communication is life, without It it it will be difficult for any person to learn a new world, share experiences, share feelings about what he saw, and simply absorb useful information.

Today, it's simple, write an email and on the other side of the world, almost a couple of seconds later, the recipient receives your message. No need to paste stamps, send envelopes and wait about a month for your news to reach friends and relatives across the ocean.

sea routes on the World map

Many centuries ago, long before the advent of writing, for the transmission of information used the fires, signal drums, sound of trumpets, tamtams, nodular letter and rock painting. With the advent of the alphabet has become much easier to exchange information, however, there was another problem as soon as possible to convey messages over great distances, because the aircraft was not yet, and trained birds could not always overcome the vast expanses of the sea.

The Primitive sea "mail" was bottle mail, which is considered the most ancient way of forwarding information. Everything was really quite simple — a note was put inside the bottle, the neck was sealed with resin, and sent downstream. That's just not always such messages reach the recipients.

This extraordinary way, according to historians, invented another Greek philosopher Theophrastus (about 310 BC, he threw somewhere in the Strait of Gibraltar a few vessels with notes, wanted to find out whether the waters from the Atlantic ocean to the Mediterranean sea). And, indeed, a few months later one of the vessels found on the island of Sicily.

Later bottle mail was used by Christopher Columbus himself, sending the Queen important information about his long journey and discoveries. So, in February 1493, caught in a heavy storm, Columbus was forced to pull out of his ship's magazine a couple of pages with maps and a detailed description of the Islands opened by him, put it all in a barrel, which immediately threw overboard, deciding to entrust the important delivery of the necessary information to ocean currents and waves.

bottle mail

However, such messages rarely reached the addressee. One day, thanks to one such bottle caught one lucky Englishman named Horton received a will to bearer and with him about two million pounds from a certain lady who sent her valuable gift on the waves.

But, such accidents could not be relied upon, Yes, and our civilization was constantly expanding its land, we opened new continents and countries overseas. The seas and oceans have been sailed, making it increasingly difficult to establish diplomatic relations and links between people and continents.

The Need for such regular sea mail has become increasingly urgent. There is a new special ships called steamers, these ships were transporting not only passengers, but also mail from different countries. One of the steamers of those years depicted in the painting Joseph Turner "the Calm...":

packet coming from Rotterdam to Dort

In Russia, the first to talk about the development of Maritime postal General-postmaster P. Shafirov. Peter I immediately supported his initiative and since 1723 ships began to sail on the waves of the Baltic sea, making regular flights on the route Kronstadt — lübeck, even if not long ones.

first sea mail vessels

Often called steamers not only the post of the court, but all two-masted sailing ships. It was on the package boats Vitus Bering and Alexey Chirikov in 1733-1741 and went on his famous expedition to the shores of North America. Those flagship ships: "Saint Paul" and "Saint Peter" are known to many, but it was quite difficult to travel on them, especially to deliver any goods.

This service depend on any vagaries of the weather and was quite unreliable. It was impossible to predict even the approximate time of receipt of correspondence, and it often happened that the letter was received after what it was done, what it warned the addressee.

And when, thanks to one enterprising American by the name of Fulton, there was the first wheel steamship in the world (though some fans of sensations considered that steam won't be able to move even a toy), many rushed to Paris to look at this floating miracle, dreamed the first to ride it.

In 1803, on the river Seine, in Paris, the first tests of an outstanding invention of the century were carried out. And four years later, Robert Fulton, along with Livingstone sent to the first voyage, but on the Hudson river his new steamer "Clermont".

"Northern river Steamer — - "Clermont"

However, the mail using the ships began only in 1824, on the route of Stralsund — Ystad.

The Russians first saw a British mail steamship called George IV only in 1827, when it landed at the port of St. Petersburg. It was from this time that a permanent sea mail service between Russia and England was established. And after 10 years, such transportation was carried out across the Atlantic.

The sea mail also had several original varieties, which include underwater and tin mail. Underwater mail was used for a short time, only in those rare cases when the delivery of goods on conventional ships was simply impossible due to a strong storm or in wartime.

submarine of the First world war

Only during the First world war in Germany resorted to such transportation. There was no way out, the German submarines began almost daily to heat the English ships, and in 1916 the UK made Germany a real naval blockade. However, such a method of transportation was extremely risky, at any time the boat could overtake torpedoes, and all the important cargo would remain on the bottom of the sea.

In addition, all this was a very unprofitable undertaking from an economic point of view, because such transportations had to be paid in excess of the usual tariff and be sure to have on the front side of the envelope or parcel the inscription Tauchbootbref (letter with a sinking boat). In those war years, they issued a special brand to pay for the most extraordinary postal services.

postage stamp of those years

Such shipments were infrequent, Yes, and this type of delivery was very slow, as submarines were so loaded with parcels and letters and postcards and parcels that they barely moved in ocean waters.

However, the Spanish government was again forced to use this service in 1938 (Madrid fell and the Franco rebels pushed back the Republican forces far away, and it was simply impossible to contact the rebels by land). It was then decided to use the country's submarines, plying between Barcelona and Valencia.

With a tin shipping it was still more difficult. Because of the numerous reefs, large ships could not dock to the shore, and the remaining miles before him overcame the swimmers-postmen, mailers in sealed cans of fuel or clogged banks.

These brave men often risked their own lives (could be eaten by bloodthirsty sharks), but still delivered the necessary correspondence to the shore. But if there were such a brave marine postmen, mail tin were melted in a canoe.

carriage of letters on Islands of the Pacific archipelago

Was on that island and enterprising Europeans who even established his office for the delivery of mail. A Walter Counsell came up with to stick on the envelopes colorful little vignettes, through which such shipments have gained huge popularity among stamp enthusiasts from around the world.

Everything was quite exotic: beautiful canoes came to the ship, took the mail and took it to the island. There, vignettes were glued to all parcels and letters, after which they were again sealed in special tin containers and they waited for the desired ship.

And in 1968, by chance, some fishermen caught unusual zinc boxes at the mouth of the Seine river, known in France as "Mulan boxes". During the Franco-Prussian war all letters were sent to the besieged Paris (such boxes with small blades were brought to the city by the river), after which they were caught by special nets.

Of course, today no one would even think of sending letters in this way, with the spread of aircraft — sea mail is simply not able to compete. Only its cheapness, with large volumes, leaves this type of delivery so popular. The speed of information exchange has become staggering, and rapid progress without it is already impossible!

Thanks to the development of communication technologies and devices, the usual paper mail slowly goes down in history, and social networks and messengers that erase the boundaries of distances become a new stage in the evolution of communication for centuries.

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