PORPOISE SS 172

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.

Porpoise Class Submarine Keel Laid October 27 1933 - Launched June 20 1935   USS PORPOISE SS-172 Commissioned August 15 1935 - Decommissioned November 15 1945 PORPOISE SS-172 Placed In Service May 8 1947 as Naval Reserve Training Ship at Houston, TX Placed Out of Service August 13 1956 Struck from Naval Register August 13 1956 Sold May 14 1957 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. Covers Page 1    (1935-41)

 

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	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Portsmouth NH Navy Yard Sta. Duplex

1933-10-27

Keel Laying

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Locy Type FDPS F "FIRST DAY / POSTAL SERVICE" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. CD-2

1935-10-22

First Day of Postal Service. Add-on cachet by Alton M (Budd) Arrington

 

Locy Type FDPS F "FIRST DAY / POSTAL SERVICE" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. CD-2

1935-10-22

First Day of Postal Service, cover by John E. Gill

 

Locy Type FDPS F "FIRST DAY / POSTAL SERVICE" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. CD-2

1935-10-22

First Day of Postal Service, cover by USS Porpoise Chapter No. 23, USCS

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB) "FIRST DAY / POSTAL"

1935-10-22

R/S marking on back from John C. Von Losberg. This cover has been backdated to reflect the First Day of Postal Service. The ship's Type 3 postmark device was received and first used on November 28 1935 with "THANKSGIVING/DAY" in the killers. (USCS Postmark Catalog)

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB) "THANKSGIVING / DAY"

1935-11-28

Thanksgiving Day. Add-on cachet by Alton M (Budd) Arrington

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB) "OUR FIRST / CHRISTMAS"

1935-12-25

Christmas Day. Cachet by USS Porpoise Chapter No. 23, USCS

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB)

1936-03-19

Add-on cachet by Roger A. Wentworth

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB) "275 FEET / DEEP DIVE"

1938-02-01

Deep Dive, cachet by P.J. (PeeJay) Ickeringill

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB) "MONTEREY / BAY, CALIF"

1938-02-01

Deep Dive, cachet by P.J. (PeeJay) Ickeringill

 

Locy Type 9v

1938-05-30

Note:

 

Locy Type SLK

1938-02-01

Deep Dive, cachet by P.J. (PeeJay) Ickeringill

 

Other Information

PORPOISE earned 5 battle stars for her World War II service

Credited with sinking...
The 4999-ton Japanese Transport RENZAN MARU, January 1 1943 off Honshu
The 2032-ton Japanese Merchant Ship KOA MARU, April 4 1943 off Eniwetok
The 2718-ton Japanese Troop Transport MIKAGE MARU No. 20, July 19 1943 off Wake Island

NAMESAKE - Any of several small gregarious toothed whales

 

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