1886 (1 Apr) cover with "U.S.S. Palos Asiatic Station" violet datestamp on back, franked with Japan 5s blue Koban, tied by departure pmk, with Kobe 20 Apr 1886 alongside, via Yokohama (24 Apr) to Washington, D.C., red San Francisco (May 9), "Carrier My 15" and Washington arrival pmks on back, fine and extremely rare usage (U.S.S. Palos was a warship in the United States Navy, named for Palos de la Frontera in Spain, the place where Christopher Columbus started his first voyage to America. Palos was the first American warship to transit the Suez Canal and operated on the China and Japan Coasts and inland waters for 22 years and was involved in military actions in Korea. Palos continued her operations on the Asiatic Station into 1891) (Image)

Est.US$500

1886 5c brown stationery entire envelope, canceled "SHIP", addressed to U.S.S. Monocacy at Yokohama, Japan, with 3 July 1886 arrival pmk on front, repeated on reverse, cover redirected to Canton, with Hong Kong (July 9) and Canton (July 10) arrival markings on back (USS Monocacy, a US Navy gunboat served for nearly four decades in the Far East. During the late 1860s, Monocacy generally operated in Japanese waters, performing survey work and protecting commerce during the unsettled conditions then prevailing in much of the country. In 1871, the gunboat participated in an expedition to Korea's Han River which resulted in the seizure of forts there. Though also seeing duty elsewhere in the region, she spent much of the next thirty years in Chinese waters, patrolling that nation's great rivers and coastal areas) (Image)

Est.US$500

1887 (28 Mar and 4 Apr) two covers with "U.S.S. Palos Asiatic Station" violet datestamps on back, each franked with Japan 5s ultramarine Koban, tied by segmented cork cancels, mailed from Yokohama and Nagasaki to Miss Nelson in Washington, D.C., red San Francisco transits and "Carrier" and Washington arrival pmks on back, fine pair of covers from U.S.S. Palos to Washington, D.C. (U.S.S. Palos was a warship in the United States Navy, named for Palos de la Frontera in Spain, the place where Christopher Columbus started his first voyage to America. Palos was the first American warship to transit the Suez Canal and operated on the China and Japan Coasts and inland waters for 22 years and was involved in military actions in Korea. Palos continued her operations on the Asiatic Station into 1891) (Image)

Est.US$500

1887 (11 Apr) cover with "U.S.S. Palos Asiatic Station" violet datestamp on back, franked with Japan 5s ultramarine Koban, bottom sheet margin single, canceled by segmented cork pmk, with Nagasaki departure cds alongside, Yokohama transit, with red San Francisco (Apr 30), "Carrier May 6" and Washington arrival pmks, fine and rare usage (U.S.S. Palos was a warship in the United States Navy, named for Palos de la Frontera in Spain, the place where Christopher Columbus started his first voyage to America. Palos was the first American warship to transit the Suez Canal and operated on the China and Japan Coasts and inland waters for 22 years and was involved in military actions in Korea. Palos continued her operations on the Asiatic Station into 1891) (Image)

Est.US$250