posted 09-14-2024 11:13 PM               

Space Cover 771: S.S. American Astronaut

With the excitement of NASA's Project Apollo there were many companies that had a significant interest in all things space and making things at the company about space. One of the companies that engaged with this excitement was the United States Lines, Inc. and its container ships.

The Type C7 ship (Lancer Class) is a United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) designation for a cargo ship and the first US purpose-built container ship. The vessels were constructed in US shipyards and entered service starting in 1968.

Eight Type C7-S-68 ships were built by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock for the United States Lines and entered service from 1968 to 1971. The sixth of these ships was named "S.S. American Astronaut" and had a MARAD Official Number of 520694. The ship had a length of 701 feet and a beam of 90 feet.

On June 9, 1969, Captain James Lovell and his wife Marilyn visited the ship. Marilyn had christened the ship to launch it. Here is some video from events that day.

The "S.S. American Astronaut" maiden voyage took it to the Tilbury Docks in England, arriving on July 13, 1969. An American astronaut (name not mentioned, Lovell???) had boarded the ship off Dover and was aboard for the rest of the trip to Tilbury. There was a lot of publicity and parties at the dock after its arrival.

Captain James A. Lovell Jr. also spoke as guest of honor at a reception at No. 40 berth, Container Terminal, Tilbury, England, to mark another completion by United States Lines of their Lancer Class Container Liner Service between the United Kingdom and the United States on the "S.S. American Astronaut" on October 6, 1969.

A twin, the seventh ship, was named "S.S. American Apollo" and launched in 1970.

Here are pictures of the ships, "S.S. American Astronaut" (top) and "S.S. American Apollo" (bottom).

As shown on the cover above, postmarked from Hong Kong in 1973, the ship had a cachet that showed the ship, a Saturn V rocket, and the Moon along with the words "American Astronaut" and "United States Lines". This design can also be seen in the video from the June 9th ceremony.

I have not seen a cover from the "S.S. American Apollo".

Ultimately, the two ships were scrapped in 2002.