Canal Zone - 1939 SS Ancon cover

In a post on the Panama board I did a cover for the maiden voyage of the SS Cristobal (it had Panamanian postage). Here is a cover for its more famous sister ship, the SS Ancon. My dad and his family were passengers on this ship and others in the Panama Line (SS Cristobal, SS Ancon, and SS Panama) when they would travel to the states on vacation. It was not many years after the maiden voyage when the US Navy requisitioned the ship. It was part of most theaters of the war, often as a command ship, and the first, or one of the first command ships to enter Tokyo Bay at the close of the war. After the war, it was returned to the Panama Line and resumed its prior service. My dad probably picked up the fact sheet from the ship when it transited the canal just after the war.


Cover on left, mint version of stamp on right