LITTLE APD 4

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.

Wickes Class Destroyer
Keel Laid 18 June 1917 - Launched 11 November 1917


1. USS LITTLE Destroyer No. 79
   Commissioned 6 April 1918
   Placed into Reserve 1919
   
   
2. USS LITTLE DD-79
   Designated (DD) 17 July 1920 - Reactivated 4 January 1921
   Decommissioned 5 July 1922
   Converted into High-speed transport (APD) 2 August 1940
   
   
3. USS LITTLE APD-4
   Recommissioned 4 November 1940
   SUNK (Japanese destroyers) 5 September 1942 off Guadalcanal

 

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 Little APD-4 Covers Page 1    (1940-1941)

 

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

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2nd Commissioning 4 November 1940 to 5 September 1942

APD-4

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 (A-BBT) "FIRST DAY / CANCELLATION"

1940-12-01

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 9v

1940-12-01

First Day of Postal Service. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type 9x

1940-12-01

First Day of Postal Service. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson. Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-07-12

Note:

 

Locy Type Fz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. L-34

1941-10-30

Note:

 

Other Information

USS LITTLE received two battle stars for World War II service

NAMESAKE - George Little (10 April 1754 - 22 July 1809)
Little was appointed First Lieutenant of the Massachusetts ship PROTECTOR in 1779, and was aboard in 1781, when she fought a running battle with the British ship THAMES. In a later engagement he was captured, imprisoned, but later escaped. He was given command of Massachusetts Ship WINTHROP, which captured two British Privateers, the Armed Brig MERIAM, and a number of other vessels. Commissioned Captain, USN on 4 March 1799, Little was given command of the Frigate BOSTON. He culminated a brilliant fighting career during the quasi-war with France by capturing LE BERCEAU and seven other ships. Captain Little died at Weymouth, Massachusetts on 22 July 1809.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Samuel W. Wakeman.

Two ships of the US Navy were named LITTLE - USS Little APD-4 and USS Little DD-803

 

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