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Starr, R. B., artist.

[U.S. Naval Certificate of Passage Into The Arctic Circle.]

[Arctic Circle]: 1943. Color printed map, 18.125" x 14.75" plus narrow margins, filled out in manuscript, mounted on gray paperboard.

A handsome WWII-era U.S. Naval certificate in the form of a pictorial map, commemorating a radio engineer's passage into the Arctic Circle, with lively illustrations.

Designed as a scroll hung up on the riveted steel wall of a ship, this map serves to "certify that Allen James Saunders (Radio) while serving on board the U.S.S. Fairfax crossed the Arctic Circle on Friday August 20th…in the Year 1943 A.D. to enter the Northern Domain of the Polar Bear," signed by commanding officer George D. Callahan U.S.N.R., and inscribed by various shipmates at the top as well. Iceland appears at the center of the map and features a volcano spewing smoke and fire, while Greenland appears at the upper left. A menacing polar bear looms large at the upper right, staring in the direction of the destroyer cruising between Greenland and Iceland. A spouting whale, viking ship, and a seal poised on a sheet of ice are also depicted. Featured in the lower right corner, somewhat incongruously, is an emblem of Great Britain, which, as it turns out, had acquired the ship in 1940, although it continued to be operated by an American crew.

The U.S.S. Fairfax (DD-93) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I, originally launched December 15th, 1917, and transferred to the Royal Navy as H.M.S. Richmond (G88) in November 1940, as a Town-class destroyer. Its final owner would be the Soviet Navy, which changed its name to Zhivuchiy ("Survivable") after acquiring the vessel in August, 1944 (Rickard). On December 3rd, 1918, in the wake of WWI, the Fairfax met and escorted to Brest the transport George Washington which was carrying President Woodrow Wilson to the Versailles Peace Conference. During WWII, she operated on neutrality patrol and was used to escort convoys in the Atlantic. The Fairfax is reported to have been commissioned into the Royal Navy as early as November 1940, starting its service as HMCS Richmond for the Royal Navy around the time this certificate was awarded. Evidently the Fairfax's service as the Richmond must have commenced after August 1943 (the date of inscription), as the certificate still retains the vessel’s American name and is signed by numerous U.S. Navy officers and crewmen.

Remarkably well-printed and very attractive, this map has the freshness of an original watercolor about it.

A delightful pictorial map certificate from the U.S.S. Fairfax, featuring colorful illustrations of the marvels of the polar regions, awarded just prior to the ship’s transfer to the Royal Navy.

REFERENCES: Rickard, J, USS Fairfax (DD-93)/ HMS Richmond.

CONDITION: Very good.

Item #4257

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