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Great White Fleet
This original period postcard presents USS Virginia (BB-13), a pre-dreadnought battleship that sailed around the world with Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet in 1907–1909. By the time this card was mailed on January 13, 1913, Virginia had been repainted battleship gray, and the tall cage masts visible in the photograph reflected her later active-service appearance. Sailors can be seen lining the decks as the ship steams underway.
The postcard is also a genuine piece of naval postal history. It was mailed from New York to Miss Alice Cattrall in Cleveland, Ohio, and carries a handwritten message from a correspondent waiting for news and wondering whether a promised letter had been lost. The January 13, 1913 postmark firmly dates the card to Virginia’s active Navy career, before World War I, adding useful context for collectors of naval history, military ephemera, and early twentieth-century correspondence.
The front is captioned “U.S.S. Virginia” and identifies Wm. B. Child of Newport, Rhode Island. The card’s later history adds to its appeal: after leaving Navy service, Virginia was sunk in 1923 during aerial bombing tests. Together, the ship image, period mailing, handwritten message, and identifiable publisher credit make this a particularly engaging example of an original USS Virginia postcard.
ITEM SPECIFICS
- Type: Original vintage postcard
- Subject: USS Virginia battleship
- Ship: USS Virginia BB-13 / Battleship No. 13
- Era: 1910s
- Date: Postmarked January 13, 1913
- Theme: Naval history; military; Great White Fleet
- Service: U.S. Navy
- Features: Posted; handwritten message; divided back; one-cent stamp
- Publisher/Credit: Wm. B. Child, Newport, Rhode Island
- Card Number: 12418
- Material: Paper
- Original/Reproduction: Original period postcard
- Unit of Sale: Single postcard
- Number of Items: 1
- Store Category: U.S. & Royal Navy
SHIPPING
$1.49 buyer-paid Standard Envelope shipping. Protected in a postcard sleeve and a rigid “Do Not Bend” mailer.
