IOWA BB 61

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.

Iowa Class Battleship Keel Laid 27 June 1940 - Launched 27 August 1942 USS IOWA BB-61 Commissioned 22 February 1943 - Decommissioned 24 March 1949 Recommissioned 25 August 1951 - Decommissioned 24 February 1958 Recommissioned 28 April 1984 - Decommissioned 26 October 1990 Struck from Naval Register 12 January 1995 Retained as a parts source Reinstated 4 January 1999 on Naval Register and returned to Reserve Status Moved April 2001 to Susian Bay, Benicia CA Preserved as a memorial/museum at San Pedro CA

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 Iowa BB-61 Covers Page 1    (1943-2008)

 

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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Post Office Established 22 February 1943 - Disestablished 22 September 1948

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-12-28

Note:

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1947-04-07

Notes:

 

Locy Type 2(n) (USS)

1946-02-19

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-08-01

Censored, WWII use

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

1943-10-08

Censored, WWII use

 

Locy Type 9efsu

1947-05-30

Note:

 

Locy Type P "TOKYO / BAY / JAPAN" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. I-12b

1945-08-30

Censored, WWII use. Tokyo Bay

 

Locy Type LDPS 2(n)

1948-09-22

Last Day of Postal Service, Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

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Post Office Reestablished 10 September 1951 - Disestablished 2 December 1957

 

Locy Type 2r USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. I-12

1953-12-25

Note:

 

Locy Type 7

1954-11-05

Notes:

 

Locy Type 9efu

1953-12-25

Note:

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Post Office Reestablished 1 March 1984 - Disestablished 25 October 1990

 

Locy Type FDC 2-1(n) Apr 28, 1984

1984-04-28

First Day in Commission

 

Locy Type 2-1(n) (USN,USS)

1984-03-18

Sea Trials

 

Locy Type 2-1(n) (USN,USS) USS Iowa BB-61 USS Missouri BB-63 USS New Jersey BB-62

1984-07-02

Unique 3 Battleship cover, created by Tom Armstrong

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USN,USS)

1986-07-04

International Naval Review - Statue of Liberty Centennial combo with USS Yorktown CG-48

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USN,USS)

1986-07-04

Rededication of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986. International Naval Review - cachet by Nordic Cachets

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USN,USS)

1986-07-04

First Day Cover of the Statue of Liberty stamp and International Naval Review. Cachet by House of Farnam.

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (D1,USS)

1990-07-18

Notes:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (D1,USS)

1990-10-25

Last Day of Postal Service, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS
Posted 1 day early

 

Locy Type Meter OFR2 (#520194) ZIP 09545

1990-07-18 to 1990-07-18

Notes:

 

Locy Type LDC 2-1(n) Oct 26, 1990

1990-10-26

USCS Catalog does not list this cancel as LDC

 

Locy Type LDC 2-1(n+) Oct 26, 1990

1990-10-26

Decommissioning, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type LDPS 9-1(n+u)(USN,USS)

1990-11-13

Last Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type LDPS 9-1(n+) (USN,USS)

1990-11-13

Last day of postal service is after the last day in commission.

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USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "65th Anniversary of Commissioning Station" Brooklyn, NY

2008-02-22

65th Anniversary of Commissioning, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4,USCS

 

Other Information

USS IOWA earned the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy "E" Ribbon w/ three Battle E devices, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ nine Battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal with star, the Korean Service Medal w/ two Battle stars, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ 2 stars, the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the South Korean Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Philippine Liberation Medal w/ 2 stars and the United Nations Korea Medal during her Naval career.

USS IOWA BB-61 was at Tokyo Bay on September 2 1945 for the Japanese surrender.

NAMESAKE - Named for The State of Iowa.

The ships sponsor is Mrs. Ilo Browne Wallace (10 March 1888 – 22 February 1981).
Mrs. Wallace was the wife of Henry A. Wallace, the 33rd U.S Vice President and later Secretary of Commerce. She was the Second Lady of the United States from 1941 until 1945.

Six ships of the US Navy have borne the name IOWA - USS Iowa (1838 Steamboat), USS Ammonoosuc (1864 Monitor, renamed IOWA), USS Iowa BB-4, USS Iowa BB-53 (canceled 1923), USS Iowa BB-61 and USS Iowa SSN-797.

 

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