WOOLSEY DD 437

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Gleaves Class Destroyer
Keel Laid 9 October 1939 - Launched 12 February 1941


1. USS WOOLSEY DD-437
   Commissioned 7 May 1941 - Decommissioned 13 June 1946
   
   Struck from Naval Register 1 July 1971
   Sold 12 June 1974 and broken up for scrap

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Woolsey DD-437 Covers Page 1    (1941-1945)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

USPO Machine Bath, Maine

1941-02-12

Hutnick Launching Cachet

---

 

Locy Type FDC 3 (A-TTT)

1941-05-07

First Day in Commission. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson. Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.
Commissioning covers postmarked 7 May 1941 are backdated. (USCS Postmark Catalog)

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 (A-TTT)

1941-05-24

First Day of Postal Service

 

Locy Type 3 (A-TTT) "CHARLESTON / SO CAROLINA"

1945-12-10

Note:

 

Locy Type 3z (OTO)

1941-08-29

Note:

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-09-24

Mark from back of cover

 

Other Information

USS WOOLSEY earned the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (w/ seven battle stars) and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Father and son Woolsey
Commodore Melancthon Taylor Woolsey (1782 - 18 May 1838)
Served in the Quasi-War with France and The War of 1812
Commodore Melancthon Brooks Woolsey (11 August 1817 - 2 October 1874)
Served during The Civil War.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Irving Spencer.

 

---

 

If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

---

Copyright 2025 Naval Cover Museum