12/22/41 Prexie cover w/ Avoid Delay..Have Vessel Name On Mail mkg & 1943 date

Description

A December 22, 1941 Sayville, N.Y. postmark ties two 1 1/2ct Martha Washington Presidential Series stamps Scott# 805 on this cover addressed to Mr. Frank Gross  c/o Standard Oil Co., of New Jersey, Foot of East 22nd St.,  Bayonne, New Jersey.  Four different notations are penciled on front of this cover around the address.  "SS EJ Sadler" and "Out 3/22/43" and "??" (something I can not read) and "Baltic".  All notations except "Baltic" are crossed out.  This censored cover was mailed by Mrs. H. L. Terry in Sayville, New York.  Finally, there is a non-postal Ship Received marking on reverse.  This boxed handstamp reads:  "RECEIVED  Ship's Mail Desk  Feb 5  1943  Standard Oil Company of N.J.  Marine Dept."  This cover a big piece missing on the reverse left edge.  Also some envelope flap glue toning on reverse.  There is very minor wear and tear on the front side of this cover.
Also included is the short letter written just over a week after Pearl Harbor and datelined:  Sayville, L.I.,  Dec. 15, 1941.  The letter reads:   "Dear Frankie :-   This is the second letter that I have written you since I received yours, but I know that when you are sailing around Cape Horn you can not send out or receive any letter for a long time.    Young Alice was with us over the week end and we enjoyed having her with us just as much as ever.  Your Mother and I tell her to come when ever she can.  She is so attractive that she looks just like a doll walking around the house.  Big Alice drove her up and was with us one night.    Of course we do not know if and when you get a vacation, but we are waiting for that big celebration which we are going to give you when you come.    Everything is so changed.  We are going to sell our California property if we can.  The government may buy our property on the beach and use it for defense purposes.  With love,  Gram."
Frank Gross was the 3rd Mate on the S.S. E.J. Sadler which had a crew of 36 men.  A German U-boat began heavy shelling of the S.S. E.J. Sadler on the late afternoon of June 22, 1942.  With continuous shelling by the U-boat, Capt. Leslie D. Cushman gave the order to abandon ship and the crew got in four lifeboats.  The S.S. E.J. Sadler sank around 7:30pm.  The crew in all four lifeboats were rescued on June 23, 1942.
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