Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
The return address indicates that the sender was a crew member of "S.S. Robin Hood M.T.C." (Marine Terminals Corp.?)
Here's a detail image of the return address:
Googling both the ship and "M.T.C.", I've found one entry in a Google book titled River Rats by Ralph Christopher. Here's the excerpt from the book:
"Special interest ships"?! What the heck?! I'm thinking that S.S. Robin Hood was carrying clandestine war materiels.
I did learn that a ship named Robin Hood was sunk in the Second World War, but nothing more about an S.S. Robin Hood of the Vietnam War era. It's a ghost ship!
Along with the S.S. Robin Hood cover, there were two other similar but un-addressed covers franked with other South Vietnam stamps. No doubt the intended recipient was a collector.
Any ideas, anyone?
Bob
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Bob, I found the following information. Not sure it is any help.
Web page : http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/mormac.shtml
Robin Hood 1945 built by Ingalls Ship Building Corp., Pascagoula, Miss. | ex- Sea Dolphin, standard ship type C3-S-A2, 1947 purchased from United States Maritime Commission renamed Robin Hood, 1957 taken over with fleet of Robin Line (Seas Shipping Co.) not renamed, 1971 sold renamed Hood, July 1973 scrapped at Kaohsiung.
(Modified by Moderator on 2015-07-08 17:12:37)
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I've done some more poking around the internet, based on the link that Mel provided. I learned nothing more about S.S. Robin Hood, but I did learn that the U.S.National Security Agency, after the Second World War, purchased several Liberty ships and turned some of them into spy ships, crewed by civilians or civilians and U.S. Navy sailors.
Only recently have pertinent NSA documents been declassified; although S.S. Robin Hood is not listed among the NSA ships, it's possible that its activities are still classified, which perhaps explains why information about it virtually doesn't exist in the public domain. In my earlier post, I mentioned that it seemed like a "ghost ship". I'm think now that it was probably a "spook ship"!
Bob
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Some stories — some puzzles! — never die!
I have been communicating recently by email with Laura Lewis Costello , whose family owned the Robin Line. She had seen this discussion and wrote to me, to tell me that her family once owned the Robin Line, including S.S. Robin Hood. In the 1960s they sold 13 ships, including Robin Hood, to the Moore McCormick shipping line.
She told me that she had never been aware that Robin Hood was in Vietnam, and has no idea what it was doing there.
Once again, I searched the internet for information about the ship, and found the following on the Navy Divers website, which reports activities of Navy salvage operations:
"“8. SS ROBIN HOOD
“a. In the early morning hours of 27 March, while alongside De Long Pier, Qui Nhon, a mine estimated at 200 lbs exploded between the pier and the starboard side of the SS ROBIN HOOD. The explosion blasted a 27 foot long by 14 foot high hole in the number three lower tween decks, ruptured the forward bulkhead in way of number two starboard after deeptank and cracked the side shell and tank top of number three starboard double bottom. The resultant flooding was insufficient to sink the ship.
“b. On 28 March, HCU-1 assistance was requested to patch the damage and dewater the ship. On 29 March, the HCU-1 salvage engineer and two HCT-1 divers arrived on the scene.
“c. By 4 April, the detailed plans for the patch had been developed. The cost of the salvage operation was estimated and permission to go ahead with the patching was received from the owners.
“d. On 6 April, the USS COHOES arrived from Danang with material for the patch. A template was made and fabrication of the patch was commenced with the USS COHOES shipfitters assisting HCU-1 personnel.
“e. By 19 April, the patch was completed and placed over the hole. On 22 April, the ship was dewatered and on 29 April, welding of the patch to the ship was complete.
“f. On 29 April, the ROBIN HOOD got underway for Hong Kong but leaks in the patch caused the ships return. These leaks were patched and the ROBIN HOOD again sailed for Hong Kong on 4 May.”"
So, this is further proof that Robin Hood was in Vietnam during the war. But what remains puzzling is its purpose. It could have no more than mundane shipping of war matériel, but there remains that interesting description (see above) of the ship as “special interest ship”. I have no idea what that means, but it speaks volumes, to me at least, of black ops.
The ship was certainly under contract to the U.S. military — the sender’s return address is a military address, and includes the abbreviation “M.T.C.”, which probably stands for Motor Transport Corps. Since the sender doesn’t include a military rank or rating in his name, he was probably a civilian.
Bob
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Very interesting, Bob!
Was there a year associated with your quote from Navy Divers? The cover might be more interesting if it could be associated in time with activities involving the ship. As it is, it might be a simple note to request or authorize some bank activity on the behalf of the sender for his family.
Presumably, the crew was on shore leave during repairs to the ship...
-Paul
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Bob
I was searching around the internet, and it appears that the SS Robin Hood was a merchant marine cargo ship. The Viet Cong would attack allied merchant ships at night while tied at port by sending in swimmers to attach limpet mines to the hulls. They blew holes in several cargo ships this way, including the SS Robin Hood. An explosion on 21 March 1971 at Qui Nhon blew a large hole in the starboard side of SS Robin Hood, requiring the ship’s departure from Vietnam for repairs.
Your cover has a postmark of 15 February 1971, so it was mailed before the SS Robin Hood was damaged a little over a month later.
Nice cover Bob!
Linus
(my source was this book, page 56)
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Pigdoc asked, "Was there a year associated with your quote from Navy Divers?"
That document covered salvage operations for the year 1971.
Bob
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Lads
This is a fabulous piece of history
Really enjoyed the read
Thank you
John
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This South Vietnam cover, a gift to me from Mel, seems to be a potentially interesting artifact from the American Vietnam War.
The return address indicates that the sender was a crew member of "S.S. Robin Hood M.T.C." (Marine Terminals Corp.?)
Here's a detail image of the return address:
Googling both the ship and "M.T.C.", I've found one entry in a Google book titled River Rats by Ralph Christopher. Here's the excerpt from the book:
"Special interest ships"?! What the heck?! I'm thinking that S.S. Robin Hood was carrying clandestine war materiels.
I did learn that a ship named Robin Hood was sunk in the Second World War, but nothing more about an S.S. Robin Hood of the Vietnam War era. It's a ghost ship!
Along with the S.S. Robin Hood cover, there were two other similar but un-addressed covers franked with other South Vietnam stamps. No doubt the intended recipient was a collector.
Any ideas, anyone?
Bob
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re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
Bob, I found the following information. Not sure it is any help.
Web page : http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/mormac.shtml
Robin Hood 1945 built by Ingalls Ship Building Corp., Pascagoula, Miss. | ex- Sea Dolphin, standard ship type C3-S-A2, 1947 purchased from United States Maritime Commission renamed Robin Hood, 1957 taken over with fleet of Robin Line (Seas Shipping Co.) not renamed, 1971 sold renamed Hood, July 1973 scrapped at Kaohsiung.
(Modified by Moderator on 2015-07-08 17:12:37)
Login to Like
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re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
I've done some more poking around the internet, based on the link that Mel provided. I learned nothing more about S.S. Robin Hood, but I did learn that the U.S.National Security Agency, after the Second World War, purchased several Liberty ships and turned some of them into spy ships, crewed by civilians or civilians and U.S. Navy sailors.
Only recently have pertinent NSA documents been declassified; although S.S. Robin Hood is not listed among the NSA ships, it's possible that its activities are still classified, which perhaps explains why information about it virtually doesn't exist in the public domain. In my earlier post, I mentioned that it seemed like a "ghost ship". I'm think now that it was probably a "spook ship"!
Bob
Login to Like
this post
re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
Some stories — some puzzles! — never die!
I have been communicating recently by email with Laura Lewis Costello , whose family owned the Robin Line. She had seen this discussion and wrote to me, to tell me that her family once owned the Robin Line, including S.S. Robin Hood. In the 1960s they sold 13 ships, including Robin Hood, to the Moore McCormick shipping line.
She told me that she had never been aware that Robin Hood was in Vietnam, and has no idea what it was doing there.
Once again, I searched the internet for information about the ship, and found the following on the Navy Divers website, which reports activities of Navy salvage operations:
"“8. SS ROBIN HOOD
“a. In the early morning hours of 27 March, while alongside De Long Pier, Qui Nhon, a mine estimated at 200 lbs exploded between the pier and the starboard side of the SS ROBIN HOOD. The explosion blasted a 27 foot long by 14 foot high hole in the number three lower tween decks, ruptured the forward bulkhead in way of number two starboard after deeptank and cracked the side shell and tank top of number three starboard double bottom. The resultant flooding was insufficient to sink the ship.
“b. On 28 March, HCU-1 assistance was requested to patch the damage and dewater the ship. On 29 March, the HCU-1 salvage engineer and two HCT-1 divers arrived on the scene.
“c. By 4 April, the detailed plans for the patch had been developed. The cost of the salvage operation was estimated and permission to go ahead with the patching was received from the owners.
“d. On 6 April, the USS COHOES arrived from Danang with material for the patch. A template was made and fabrication of the patch was commenced with the USS COHOES shipfitters assisting HCU-1 personnel.
“e. By 19 April, the patch was completed and placed over the hole. On 22 April, the ship was dewatered and on 29 April, welding of the patch to the ship was complete.
“f. On 29 April, the ROBIN HOOD got underway for Hong Kong but leaks in the patch caused the ships return. These leaks were patched and the ROBIN HOOD again sailed for Hong Kong on 4 May.”"
So, this is further proof that Robin Hood was in Vietnam during the war. But what remains puzzling is its purpose. It could have no more than mundane shipping of war matériel, but there remains that interesting description (see above) of the ship as “special interest ship”. I have no idea what that means, but it speaks volumes, to me at least, of black ops.
The ship was certainly under contract to the U.S. military — the sender’s return address is a military address, and includes the abbreviation “M.T.C.”, which probably stands for Motor Transport Corps. Since the sender doesn’t include a military rank or rating in his name, he was probably a civilian.
Bob
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01:41:50pm
re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
Very interesting, Bob!
Was there a year associated with your quote from Navy Divers? The cover might be more interesting if it could be associated in time with activities involving the ship. As it is, it might be a simple note to request or authorize some bank activity on the behalf of the sender for his family.
Presumably, the crew was on shore leave during repairs to the ship...
-Paul
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re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
Bob
I was searching around the internet, and it appears that the SS Robin Hood was a merchant marine cargo ship. The Viet Cong would attack allied merchant ships at night while tied at port by sending in swimmers to attach limpet mines to the hulls. They blew holes in several cargo ships this way, including the SS Robin Hood. An explosion on 21 March 1971 at Qui Nhon blew a large hole in the starboard side of SS Robin Hood, requiring the ship’s departure from Vietnam for repairs.
Your cover has a postmark of 15 February 1971, so it was mailed before the SS Robin Hood was damaged a little over a month later.
Nice cover Bob!
Linus
(my source was this book, page 56)
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re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
Pigdoc asked, "Was there a year associated with your quote from Navy Divers?"
That document covered salvage operations for the year 1971.
Bob
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re: Ship ID -- S.S. Robin Hood?
Lads
This is a fabulous piece of history
Really enjoyed the read
Thank you
John
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