CONSTITUTIONEN paddle steamer 1821

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aukepalmhof
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CONSTITUTIONEN paddle steamer 1821

Post by aukepalmhof » Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:33 pm

To celebrate the 300th years of the Svenska Postal Service, Sweden issued in 1936 a set of 12 stamps of which three stamps show us a vessel which has transported the mail.

The 25ore stamp shows us the CONSTITUTION or CONSTITUTIONEN.
Carvel-built wooden oak hulled paddle steamer by Örlogsvarvet in Karlskrona if she was built for the Swedish Post office is not clear but she was delivered in 1821 as the SVENSKA LEJONET (Swedish Lion).
1822 Managed by the Swedish Post and renamed in CONSTITUTIONEN.
Displacement 23 ton, dim. 30 x 5 x 2m. (draught)
Three masted, topsail rigged.
One steam engine of 50hp. manufactured by Samuel Owens in Stockholm in 1823, speed 7 knots.
Armed: Carried four light deck guns.
From 01 May 1823 used in the service between Ystad and Stralsund.
Crew 1 officer, 1 quartermaster, three seamen and a cook.
After 15 year service she was sold on 06 April 1838 to Erik Ahlstrom in Norrkoping, Sweden and renamed in KRONAN.
Used till 1841 as freighter.

Sources:
http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Marit ... _p178.html https://digitaltmuseum.se/011014704980/ ... bordssidan (http://kulturnav.org/6f1ba2a5-9796-4e0d ... f6718ed19e Mr. Raul Macedo da Fonseca.

The following was given in Watercraft Philately May June 1997 page 78 and written by Lennart Siltberg.

CONSTITUTION or CONSTITUTIONEN
First she was fired by wood later replaced by coal. Steam engines started to be used for powering pumps etc. early 1700 and for ships power in early 1800.
Paddle wheels were used because the propellers required more steam than could be produced by the steam engines of that time. The ship on this stamps is the paddle steamer CONSTITUTIONEN operating as a mail carrier between Ystad in Sweden and Stralsund/Wiek in Pommern

The official name decided by the Government on September 19, 1822 was CON-STITUTIONEN. It may be noted that the Swedish Post Office during the years 1820 to 1832, owned and operated on the same route, a sailing packet with the same name.
Mail had been carried between Sweden and the Swedish province Pommern by Swedish sailing packets since the 15th century. However in 1815, Sweden lost Pommern to Preussen and in 1817 the two countries agreed to organize the transportation of the mail on a joint basis, each to build one paddle steamer with the same specifications at the same shipyard.

The paddle steamers could not operate during the winter months because the paddle wheels were damaged by the ice. Therefore the CONSTITUTIONEN did not start her regular mail tours until May 1, 1824.

The journey normally took 13 – 15 hours, she made one journey per week. The original idea was to use the port of Stralsund in Pommern but due to low water problems, the harbour Wiek close to Greifswald was used from spring 1827. CONSTITUTIONEN always had a master from the Navy.

She was the first steamship owned by the Swedish Postal Authorities. Like other steamers she was also outfitted with sails on three masts with topsails (topsail schooner rig).

CONSTITUTIONEN had four light guns.
Accommodation in four cabins and two saloons, one for men the other for women.
During the years 1830 – 1833 the mail was carried by a private operator who had the right to use the CONSTITUTIONEN for this purpose.
She not only carried mail, but passengers and cargo, including a maximum of four horses were allowed.

CONSTITUTIONEN was sold to Erik Åhlström, Norrköping in 1837 and used as a freighter until she sank in 1856.

The Swedish Post Office continued to carry mail between Sweden and Pommern in their own ships until 1869, after which the mail was transported by private companies.

Sweden 1936 25 ore sg 192, scott 255 and 1966 25 ore sg520, scottB56
Attachments
constitutionen 1.jpg
1936 constitutionen 1.jpg
1966 constitutionen. 1jpg.jpg

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