MADISON DD 425

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.

Benson Class Destroyer Keel Laid 19 December 1938 - Launched 20 October 1939 USS MADISON DD-425 Commissioned 6 August 1940 - Decommissioned 13 March 1946 Struck from Naval Register 1 June 1969 Sunk as target 14 October 1969 off Southeastern Florida

Commander James Jonas Madison, USN

 

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 Madison DD-425 Covers Page 1    (1938-1941)

 

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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Post Office Established 5 September 1940 - Disestablished 31 January 1946

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 (A-BBT) "BOSTON / MASS"

1940-09-08

Note:

 

Locy Type FDPS 9v

1940-09-08

First Day of Postal Service.

 

Locy Type FDPS 9x

1940-09-08

First Day of Postal Service. Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-04-23

Note:

 

Locy Type 9v

1940-12-09

Ship cachet by Louis C. Weigand

 

Locy Type 9x

1940-12-06

Ship cachet by Louis C. Weigand

 

Other Information

USS MADISON earned the American Defense Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Europe Africa Middle East Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 5 Battle stars) and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

USS MADISON DD-425 was at Tokyo Bay 2 September 1945 for the Japanese surrender

NAMESAKE - Commander James Jonas Madison USN (20 May 1888 – 25 December 1922)
Madison an officer in the US Navy and a World War I recipient of the Medal of Honor for exceptionally heroic service in a position of great responsibility as commanding officer of the USS TICONDEROGA ID-1958. On 4 October 1918, that vessel was attacked by the German Submarine U-152 and was sunk after a prolonged and gallant resistance in The North Atlantic. Lt. Comdr. Madison was severely wounded early in the fight, but caused himself to be placed in a chair on the bridge and continued to direct the fire and to maneuver the ship. When the order was finally given to abandon the sinking ship, he became unconscious from loss of blood, but was lowered into a lifeboat and saved.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Ethel Madison Meyn, widow of Comdr. James Jonas Madison.

 

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