The "Laurence M. Gould" is named in honour of Laurence Mckinley Gould the polar explorer and geologist who was second in command during Admiral Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition during 1929-1930.

The vessel is a sister ship to  the "Nathaniel B. Palmer".   It was launched in 1998 and has ice-breaking capability while preforming mainly a research and supply role. The photo above shows the "Laurence M. Gould" off the US Palmer Antarctic Station.

Note: The "Gould' had just returned from Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula a few days earlier and was due to leave again on the 9th July to return to Palmer Station. The Polarogramme has at bottom left a small cachet of the vessel and bears a current Chilean $360 Antarctic wildlife stamp.

Reverse of above Polarogramme with cachet from Palmer Station, larger "Gould" cachet (in green) and a  US Antarctic program seal. Backstamped on arrival at Christchurch 19 July 1999 - 10 days after posting in Punta Arenas.

View of Palmer Station from waters edge

Laurence M. Gould off Palmer Station 1999

Note: The "Laurence M. Gould"   returned to Punta Arenas from Palmer Station on the 30th July carrying an amount of mail including some Polarogrammes as above. This item (and the one below) have US stamps affixed and have been treated as Paquebot mail according to UPU regulations.  The item has a cachet of Palmer Station on the reverse and is backstamped at Christchurch on 7th August 1999.

Note: Similar to the previous item but with different ship and Palmer Station cachets on front.

Note: This scan of the reverse of the postcard above shows the Palmer Station datestamp of Jul 23 1999, another Palmer Station cachet and a cachet of the vessel "Laurence M.Gould".  The postcard also has a pair of Palmer Station cachets on the front. It was carried in the company mail bag via Punta Arenas, Chile to Antarctic Support Associates headquarters in Denver where it was posted on arrival as usual with mail deposited at Palmer Station sent to US addresses.

Note: This postcard was posted at Palmer Station at the same time as the previous postcard and differs in that it has a different cachet at left. The quality of the Denver postmarking is variable on both items.

This cover bears two cachets of the "Laurence M. Gould" and is signed by Warren Sanamo jr., Captain of the vessel.  It is backstamped on arrival in Christchurch 29 September 1999.

Note: "Copacabana" was a temporary field camp established on King George Island in the South Sanwich Islands group. The "Gould' deposited the field group on site not far from the Polish "Arctowski" Base which itself is not far from the Chilean main "Eduardo Frei" Base.  The "Gould" had arrived on the 13th of Ooctober and departed the following day. Mail from the Polish base is normally posted out through "Eduardo Frei" and the above mail from the Copacabana field camp has been handled the same way with a Chilean stamp postmarked at Eduardo Frei Base. The cover is backstamped on arrival in Christchurch on the 16th November 1999.

After depositing  people and supplies at Copacabana Field Camp on King George Island, the "Gould" proceeded to Cape Shirreff on Deception Island where a science party was landed along with supplies. After some Oceanographic work and a visit to Palmer Station, the "Gould" eventually returned to Punta Arenas on Saturday the 13th of November 1999. The above cover with a special cachet for the "Decepcion Island - Gould Operations" was postmarked with the Punta Arenas Paquebot boxed postmark on Monday, the 15th November and is backstamped on arrival in Christchurch on 24th November 1999.

Note: Following her return to Punta Arenas, the "Gould" left again to pick up some of the parties left on Deception Island and then visited Ushuaia in Southern Argentina where the above envelope was posted on arrival at Ushuaia on the 29th November 1999.

Note: This cover has been posted with American stamps and treated as Paquebot as the American registered "Gould" was entitled to such postal facilities.

Note: This Palmer Station postcard bears both a Palmer Station cachet and a cachet of the "L.M.Gould". Backstamped on arrival in Christchurch 14th November, 2002.

Note: The "Gould" transported in late October 2002 a group of researchers to open Copacabana Field Camp on King George Island for the 2002-2003 season.  The vessel arrived back in Punta Arenas on 18th November after also visiting Cape Shirreff and Palmer Station. The above cover has been posted paquebot on arrival in Punta Arenas and is backstamped on arrival in Christrchurch on 28th November, 2002.

Note: This paquebot cover differs from the previous item by being signed by Captain Warren Sanamo.

Note: this cover bearing a Chilean stamp was posted through the regular Chilean postal services rather than as paquebot mail as per the two previous items. It is also backstamped on arrival in Christchurch on 28th November, 2002.

A wide angle view of the bay on Livingston Island.

The American Hut at Cape Shirreff.

Note: shown at right is Captain Captain Warren Sanamo jr. (left) and Klaus Arne Pedersen of Antarctic Protection Society (right).

The picture was taken at Punta Arenas on November 18th following the vessel's return from opening the field camps. The vessels yellow gangway box is shown behind the 2 people with one of the vessels red pick up trucks also partly visible.

Note: this cover bearing a Chilean stamp was posted through the regular Chilean postal services rather than as paquebot mail as per the two previous items. It is also backstamped on arrival in Christchurch on 28th November, 2002.