The Ships of the Russian Weapons of Victory Series

Four ship stamps were issued in 2013 by the Russian Postal Authority to commemorate weapons that helped contribute to the "Russian" victory in WWII.  

The first stamp in the set depicts the minesweeper Mina.

The Mina was built as a fast coastal minesweeper for the Soviet Russian Navy at Sevastopol.   Completed in the same year construction started she was launched on August 20, 1937. 

Mina's particulars are:

Displacement 410 ton standard, 503 ton full load. Dim. 62.0 x 7.2 x 2.26m (draught); Powered by two 42-BMRN-6 diesel engines producing 2,000 hp; twin shafts; speed 18.5 knots.

Armament 1 – 100mm gun B-24; 1 – 45mm gun 21-K; 3 – 12.7mm MG (Machine Guns); 2 DCR (Depth Charge Racks) (20); 31 mines and sweeps.  The Mina was designed to have a Crew 44

She was delivered to the Russian Navy on August 28, 1938 and served in the Black Sea.  Through the four years of WWII, she sailed 47 000 miles through mine infested waters and was responsible for escorting numerous ships.  Through her service during the war she had come under air attack no less than 300 times.  In July 1944 the Mina was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

The next stamp features the patrol boat Metel. This ship was constructed in sections that were shipped via train and sent to the Soviet Far East and assembled at the  Dalzavod Shipyard in Vladivostok.

Metel's particlars are: 

Displacement 450 ton standard, 530 ton full load, dim. 71.5 x 7.4 x 2.6m. (draught); Powered by Curtiss geared steam turbines, 6,290 hp, speed 24 knots, economical 14 knots; Range by a speed of 14 knots, 1,200 mile.

Armament 2 – 102mm; 3 – 37mm guns; and 3 – 12.7mm MG.; 3 – 450mm torpedo tubes; 2 – mortars; carried 48 mines and 30 depth charges. Fitted out with mine sweeping equipment.  She had a crew compliment of 108.

Throughout WWII the Metel escorted ships through minefields.  During the battle of Chongjin, in Northern Korea  the ship and crew distinguished themselves through expert fire support shooting down enemy aircraft, destroying an armoured train, taking out enemy coastal batteries and searchlight installations, destroying eight concreted fortifications and gun positions, and causing serious damage to an enemy landing craft.

64 of the Metel's crew were awarded with orders and medals.  Her Captain was conferred with the title "Hero of the Soviet Union".

The river armoured craft BKA-75 is the next stamp in the set.  She was built at Zelenodolsk and completed in December 1941.  

The particulars of the BKA-75 are: 

Displacement: 49.75 standard, 52.16 full load, dim. 25.3 x 4.04 x 0.87m (draught); Powered by engines of 1,800 hp, maximum speed 37.4 km/h, economical speed 23 km/h; Range up to 680 km.

Armament 2 – 76.2mm guns; 2 – 12.7 and 2 – 7.62mm MG. The BKA-75 had a crew 17.

Through out WWII BKA-75 served along side Russian army units and participated in the defence of Stalingrad and worked on the Volga river until September 1943 when she was loaded on a rail car and transported to the Azov Sea.  After suffering serious damage and repairs she joined the Danube Flotilla where she took part in the liberation of: Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria.  She also particpated in the liberation of Belgrade.

The last stamp in this set displays the gunboat Usyskin.  Orinally built as a paddle steamer tug for service on rivers, she was converted to a gun boat in July 1941. 

The Usyskin's particulars are: 

Displacement 400 tons, dim. 56.4 x 17.1 x 1.2m;

One 480 hp steam engine , speed 8.5 knots.

Armament: 2 – 45mm guns; 1 – 7.62mm MG.

The Usyskin participated in the defence of Stalingrad as a unit in the Volga River Flotilla.  In February of 1943 she received the Order of the Red Banner.

In April of 1943 the Usyskin was severely damaged as a result of a mine.  In July 1943, she was converted back to a tug.

References:

http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12938&p=14161&hilit=Mina#p14161

http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12942&p=14169&hilit=Metel#p14169

http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12941&p=14167&hilit=BKA+75#p14167

http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12939&p=14165&hilit=Usyskin+Russia#p14165

Celebrating Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping is the maintenance of peace by an armed force.  This is usually done in the context of a United Nations peacekeeping mission. It is an honourable task and in 2012, Japan commemorated peacekeeping by issuing the below stamps.

UN peacekeeping began in 1948 and since then there have been 69 UN Peacekeeping Operations.  

The Austrian State Opera and Theater houses

Issued by Austria in 2005 the country of Austria celebrated the 50th Anniversaries of the reopening of their national opera and theater houses. 

The Opera House

Construction on the state opera house commenced in 1861 based on a design by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll.  Built by the renowned architect and builder Josef Hlavka, the opera house was finally finished in 1869.  The opera house is pictured in the stamp on the right in the souvenir sheet above.  It was extensively damaged during World War II and completion of the renovations and reconstruction was finished in 1955.  

The National Theater

Featured on the left stamp in the above souvenir sheet is the Austrian National Theater.  One of the most important German language theaters in the world, it opened in 1888 and was designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer.  As with the opera house, it was extensively damaged during World War II.

Law 2 - The Ball

When I was younger and much more in shape I was a soccer (football) referee.  On top of being great exercise and fun, there was the memorization of the 17 laws of the game.  This blog post will focus on Law 2 - The Ball.

Law 2 states that the ball must be:

• spherical
• made of leather or another suitable material
• have a circumference of not more than 70 cm and not less than 68cm
• At the start of the match it cannot weigh more than 450 g and not less than 410 g
• have a pressure of not more than 0.6 - 1.1 atmospheres.

Other considerations on Law 2 are that should the ball become defective during a match, the match will be restarted by a drop ball at the location where the original ball became defective.  

If it became defective at a penalty or kicks from the mark, the penalty  will be retaken.  

If the ball becomes defective during a restart the ball is replaced and the game restarted accordingly.

I have to say in my 16+ years as a referee I have never had to replace a defective ball, many that were lost on roads and highways, but none as a result of becoming defective during the game. 

From a topical perspective there are plenty of stamps that have been issued with soccer balls appearing on them. Below are some more.