Operation Highjump - USS Sennet

USS Sennet (SS-408)

Central Group
Cmdr. Joseph B. Icenhower, USN

10 DEC 46	Departed Submarine Base Balboa, Canal Zone.
28 DEC 46	Crossed the Antarctic Circle.
30 DEC 46	Rendezvoused with the Central Group of ships in the vicinity of Scott Island.
31 DEC 46	Dr. Waldo K. Lyon, physicist, reported aboard for duty. Entered pack ice in column with Central Group.
3 JAN 47	Due to severe ice conditions was taken in tow by Northwind and proceeded northward toward Scott Island.
5 JAN 47	In vicinity of Scott Island commenced inspection of vessel and served as weather and radio relay station.
25 JAN 47	Rendezvoused with Philippine Sea and Cacapon; refueled.
29 JAN 47	Served as stand-by rescue vessel for the R4D flights from Philippine Sea to Little America through the 30th.
4 FEB 47	Set course for Wellington, New Zealand.
11 FEB 47	Entered Port Nicholson, Wellington, N.Z.
16 FEB 47	Departed Wellington for Papeete, Tahiti.
24 FEB 47	Arrived Papeete, Tahiti.
26 FEB 47	Departed Papeete, Tahiti.
13 MAR 47	Moored at Submarine Base Balboa, C.Z.

U.S.S. Sennet had no official post office on board, thus no postmark incorporating the ship's name.

Some mail was canceled with a World War II vintage "U.S. NAVY" hand cancel which rendered extremely poor impressions (figure 1). These can be found with either a 2 APR or 7 APR 1947 date, long after the ship returned to home port.

The single-line ship's name handstamp (figure 2) appears on many Sennet philatelic covers and, indeed, identifies them as being from this vessel. Occasionally it was used as a canceling device.

Much of the mail from Sennet was transferred to another ship of the Task Force for postmarking and onward transmission (figures 3, 4, 5).

Figure 1	Figure 2
Figure 3	Figure 4
Figure 5