Philatelic account of Malta's maritime history
A set of five stamps designed by Francis X. Ancilleri and depicting various periods in Malta's maritime history will be issued on August 18 by Maltapost's Philatelic Bureau. The 8c stamp portrays the Sant'Anna galley that was used by the knights and...
A set of five stamps designed by Francis X. Ancilleri and depicting various periods in Malta's maritime history will be issued on August 18 by Maltapost's Philatelic Bureau.
The 8c stamp portrays the Sant'Anna galley that was used by the knights and the 29c stamp depicts the French 84-gun Guillaume Tell that escaped from the Battle of the Nile to seek shelter in Valletta after the defeat by Admiral Horatio Nelson of the French fleet in Aboukir Bay.
The 51c stamp shows the Old Ironsides vessel, which is still in service with the United States navy. It is dressed overall in the stamp as part of the celebrations of the birthday of George Washington in 1837.
The 76c stamp portrays the first all-big-gun battleship that was launched in 1906. Vice-Admiral Fisher prepared his first sketches of the ship with the chief constructor at the Malta Dockyard in 1900.
The Lm1 stamp shows the guided missiles frigate Belknap and the cruiser Slava which provided the communications support for the summit meeting in Malta between US President George Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1989. The two warships are seen in the stamp moored close to each other in Marsaxlokk Bay.
The set is available from all Maltapost postal retail outlets in Malta and Gozo and from the Philatelic Bureau, as a First Day Cover, in mint or cancelled formats, and as a souvenir folder and presentation pack.
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