Found Item – USPS Submarine Stamps Part 3

Today, we’re continuing with the next few pages of the Submarine stamp booklet. The first few submarine pages were posted on September 30 and the next few submarine pages were presented in our post earlier this week on October 11.

The next few pages in the submarine stamp booklet adds information for the post-world war II era submarines.

US Postal Service Submarine Stamps Booklet - Cold War

Inset picture left caption:  With sail planes at vertical to break through 18 inches of ice, USS Pogy surfaces near the North Pole.

Inset picture right caption: Adm. Hyman G. Rickover

Cold War Inspires A Giant Step For Subs

Peace brought new designs.

Underwater speed shot up when USS Albacore appeared in the early 1950s with a hydrodynamic hull that gave her more than 25 knots – an unbelievable 28.8 mph – underwater! If only she’d had more staying power….

That came in January 1955, when USS Nautilus signaled, “Underway on nuclear power.”

It was a long-sought dream. The Navy’s controversial Adm. Hyman Rickover, packing in his small thin body energy best described as atomic, drove the nuclear sub program. Now, with reserve power galore, range was almost unlimited. A “nuke” could run CO2 scrubbers and generate oxygen to keep air fresh. Moving like a shark at great depth, it could remain submerged indefinitely. The frozen Arctic Ocean was no longer a forbidden wasteland. Nukes could go anywhere under ice, even surface at the North Pole!

US Postal Service Submarine Stamps Booklet - Los Angeles Class

Picture caption: Los Angeles class: USS Jefferson City    Length: 362′

US Postal Service Submarine Stamps Booklet - Attack Subs

Inset picture caption:  Planesmen “fly” USS Memphis underwater at speeds exceeding 25 knots.

Attack Submarines:  Sailing Below Every Sea

In 1960 the nuke USS Triton circled the globe submerged – 26,723 nautical miles in 61 days. Logging a grand total of 35,979 nautical miles in 83 days, Triton’s epic underwater voyage pointed the way to the future. In the mid-19702 attack subs of the Los Angeles class began prowling far below waves and weather – round-nosed sea monsters, shadowing possible foes, ready to use “smart” torpedoes and cruise missiles. The latest attack sub classes, employing cutting-edge technology, will enable the U.S. to continue to maintain undersea dominance well into the 21st century.

US Postal Service Submarine Stamps Booklet - Surfacing

Picture caption:  Seawolf class: USS Seawolf    Length: 353′

We have just a few more pages, but we’ll get to those, which include the stamps, in another post.

At a face value of $9.80 for the stamps in the booklet, the customer received all of this additional information and history about an important piece of our military’s history and successes.

It’s fun to take a trip back in time with these found objects in coin collections.

Stay tuned. In the next few days, we will reveal the stamps.

Check out our journey back in time with Days of Our Coins.