Captain Charles Bowers Momsen, Jr was awarded the Elmer Sperry medal for a distinguished engineering contribution to the art of transportation for his work on the submersible, ALVIN. He is well known for his work on submersible vessels which have been used to find the Titanic and for other undersea exploration.

In honor of his birthday, his daughter created this commemorative cover. The picture is a photograph of the actual medal presented to Captain Momsen. Captain Momsen was awarded a Legion of Merit by the US Navy for his "responsibility for the Navy's Deep Research Vehicle Program which led to the construction of ALVIN."

The stamps on the envelope are the USA 33 stamp depicting the Los Angeles class submarine and a cent stamp depicting a bird which Captain Momsen chose to signify the importance of the soaring spirit of invention.

He actually helped affix the stamps and cancel them at the Santa Barbara, CA post office on his birthday April 19, 2001.Santa Barbara was his home at the time which is why that post office was chosen to cancel the stamps on this commemorative cover.

The envelopes are signed by Charles B. Momsen and signed and numbered by the designer, his daughter, Helen Hart Momsen.

This is a limited edition of 128. Read more about the submersible in a book called WATER BABIES by Victoria Karharl.