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This got mixed up in some Aussie stuff I bought at the weekend.

It's a bit of a mix!

"Carte Postale"= French

What I assume to be the info about the printer is in an oriental script. Japanese?

The illustration says "Astuta Maru", I can find no such ship, but there was a Japanese liner, Tatsuta Maru, changed to Tatuta Maru in 1938:

http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime ... tsuta1.htm

But this has 2 short funnels, whereas the one on the card has 1 tall funnel.

The postmark (on Italian stamps) says "Ermanno Carlotto", which was an Italian Navy gunboat!

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi ... o&offset=0

Comments and clarifications appreciated!
Cheers
Chris

_________________
Always on the lookout for Australian pre decimal First Day Covers.

Chris,

I can help you with the easy bit - the reason "Carte Postale" is there is to meet UPU standards which encourage the widespread use of French terminology - a bit like seeing "Par Avion" on a Russian cover

Now to let the experts loose on the rest of it...

Interesting card Chris,,afraid I can,t be of much help.but will be watching with interest for more info.

few questions, would the Italian Gunboat have travelled very far from Italian Waters,i.e Mediteranian.area,
Or was it based somewhere in the Orient
as the card has not actually been used,,but I guess it was bought IN the Orient somewhere,

_________________
Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

S.S. ATSUTA MARU

Hi Chris

Below is a advertisment appearing in THE ARGUS 11 Feb 1931



30 May, 1942
USS Pompano (Lt.Cdr. L.S. Parks) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese troop transport Atsuta Maru (7983 GRT) east of Okinawa in position 26º07'N, 129º06'E.

S.S. ATSUTA MARU

For what it's worth, the Japanese text reading from right to left is

'Postcard'

'Nippon Yusen KK' (the NYK shipping line)

'Kobe Sankyo KK' (presumably the printer)

There are two main systems of Romanizing Japanese. The differences between them aren't huge, but one difference is that the Japanese letter つ is written 'tsu' in one system, and 'tu' in the other. As the first system was devised by a Westerner and the second by the Japanese Government, the change in English spelling in the late '30s would make sense.

_________________
'First I'll steal all the money, then I'll kill everybody, and then I'll go away', Père Ubu

Thanks to all the detectives!

Any clue if it's worth anything?

Cheers
Chris

_________________
Always on the lookout for Australian pre decimal First Day Covers.

Hi mrboggler
To answer your question the RN ERMANNO CARLOTTO was based in the Orient, below is a brief history of the gun boat.

1921:
Gunboat RN ERMANNO CARLOTTO finally is completed and enters Italian service in China.

16 June 1923:
Chungking. CARLOTTO arrives after navigating about 1,400 miles up the Yangtze from Shanghai. She is the first Italian ship to visit the city.

1927:
China is in the midst of a civil war between the Kuomintang Party's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Tse-Tung's Communist Army. The goal of both the Nationalists and Communists is to rid China of foreigners who have usurped China. The Communists move troops to attack Nanking, capital of Nationalist China.

Five countries send warships to Nanking to evacuate their citizens if necessary. Italy sends CARLOTTO. France sends sloop MARNE. The United States sends destroyers USS JOHN D. FORD (DD-228), PILLSBURY (DD-227), SIMPSON (DD-221), NOA (DD-343) and PRESTON (DD-327). Great Britain sends HMS CARADOC, CARLISLE, EMERALD, GNAT, PETERSFIELD, VERITY, VETERAN, VINDICTIVE, WILD SWAN, WISHART, WITHERINGTON and WOLSEY. Japan sends IJN HODERO, KATATA, MOMO and SHINOKI

May 1936:
CARLOTTO departs Shanghai for Hankow and Nanking. Returns to Shanghai.

June 1936:
Departs Shanghai for Hankow and Nanking. Returns to Shanghai.

October 1936:
Departs Shanghai for Hankow and Nanking. Returns to Shanghai.

22 December 1936:
Departs Nanking.

30 December 1936:
CARLOTTO arrives at Shanghai.

10 June 1940-8 September 1943:
During Italy's participation in World War II, the Regia Marina Italiana's presence in China consists of CARLOTTO located in Tientsin and LEPANTO in Shanghai, and some detachments of troops assigned to the defense of the small Italian commercial interests.

15 October 1943:
CARLOTTO is raised and salvaged by the Japanese. Enlisted in the IJN as a gunboat and renamed NARUMI.

9 September 1945:
Japanese troops in China formally surrender.

Shanghai. NARUMI is surrendered. Later, she is ceded to Nationalist China and renamed KIANG KUN.

Okay .... now I have a question to ask --

How is it the postcard is franked and cancelled ... but no message nor address is evident?

Presumably it's a souvenir of some sort. I can't see why a small military ship would normally have it's own postmark.

_________________
Always on the lookout for Australian pre decimal First Day Covers.