HOUSATONIC AO 35

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.

Chicopee Class Fleet Oiler Keel Laid 30 April 1941 as "SS ESSO ALBANY" for Standard Oil of New Jersey Launched 7 September 1941 - Delivered 10 October 1941 Acquired by US Navy 9 January 1942 and converted to Fleet Oiler (AO) USS HOUSATONIC AO-35 Commissioned 9 January 1942 - Decommissioned 11 March 1946 Struck from Naval Register (date unknown) Transferred to Maritime Commission 22 October 1946 Sold to former owners 15 October 1947, renamed "SS ESSO BETHLEHEM" Sold 15 June 1962, to Sea-Land Ships Inc., renamed "SS LOS ANGELES" Sold 29 March 1963, to Beauregard Inc., converted to containership 1963 Sold 13 November 1964, to Litton Industries Leasing Corp. Sold 28 February 1975, to Reynolds Leasing Corp. Sold 23 March 1978, to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., for scrapping of bow and stern Sold 1 August 1978, to Reynolds Leasing Corp., renamed "SS SEA-LAND PIONEER" Re-flagged Bahamian 18 June 1989 Sold 14 July 1989, to Intersea Operations Ltd., Inc. Final Disposition, scrapped, date unknown

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 name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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 Housatonic AO-35 Covers Page 1     (1945)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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

 

Locy Type FDPS 9efu

1942-04-11

First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type FDPS 9xz

1942-04-11

First Day Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type 2#

1946-02-04

From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 3z (BTT)

1945-06

Note:

 

Locy Type LDPS 2#

1946-03-08

Last Day of Postal Service, add-on cachet by Richard F. Hoffner

 

Locy Type LDPS 9efu

(1946-03-08)

Last Day of Postal Service, add-on cachet by Richard F. Hoffner

 

Other Information

USS Housatonic earned the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 battle star, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 4 Battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal and the Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - One of the rivers of New England which rises in Berkshire County, Mass., and flows southward into Connecticut before emptying into Long Island Sound a little east of Bridgeport.

Three ships of the United States Navy have been named HOUSATONIC
USS Housatonic (Screw Sloop-of-War 1861), USS Housatonic (Mine Planter SP-1697) and USS Housatonic AO-35.

 

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