USPS Salutes US Merchant Marine Forever

The Postal Service salutes the U.S. Merchant Marine by issuing 60 million Forever stamps to set sail through the nation’s mailstream.

Since the founding of the republic, the United States has looked to the maritime industry for much of its growth and security. The U.S. Postal Service honors the U.S. Merchant Marine — the modern name for the maritime fleet — with four stamps featuring vessels that have played an important role in our nation's history.

The Clipper Ship stamp is based on an undated Frank Vining Smith lithograph of the famous clipper Sovereign of the Seas, which launched in 1852. Clipper ships, ushered in by the California Gold Rush of 1849 and noted for their streamlined shape and their majestic cloud of square-rigged sails, set numerous speed records in their time.

The Auxiliary Steamship stamp is based on contemporary lithographs of ships of the Collins Line, which provided service between New York and Liverpool in the 1850s. Auxiliary steamships — steam-powered ships with back-up sailing rigs — were the ocean liners of their day, competing in the 1850s with clipper and other sailing ships for trans-Atlantic mail and passenger service.

The Liberty Ship stamp is based on a photograph of an unidentified Liberty ship in the files of the Westport, CT, Public Library. During World War II, the United States built more than 2,700 Liberty ships — plain but sturdy cargo vessels that sustained the Allied forces with a steady supply of food and war material.

The Container Ship stamp is based on an undated photograph of the R.J. Pfeiffer, a modern container ship launched in 1992 and operated by Matson Navigation Company. Container ships, pioneered in the 1950s, are key to today’s global economy, carrying manufactured goods worldwide across the oceans and exemplifying the modern merchant marine.