BLOCK ISLAND CVE 106

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.

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier
Keel Laid 25 October 1943 as SUNSET BAY (also listed as) SUNSET
Launched 10 June 1944 - Renamed 5 July 1944


1. USS BLOCK ISLAND CVE-106
   Commissioned 30 December 1944
   
   
2. BLOCK ISLAND CVE-106
   Placed In Service in reserve 28 May 1946
   
   
3. USS BLOCK ISLAND CVE-106
   Recommissioned 28 April 1951 - Decommissioned 27 August 1954
   
   Reclassified Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter) LPH-1 22 December 1957 while in reserve
   Conversion canceled June 1958
   Reverted to Escort Carrier (CVE) 17 February 1959
   Reclassified Cargo Ship and Aircraft Ferry AKV-38 7 May 1959 while in reserve
   Struck from Naval Register 1 July 1959 and scrapped

 

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 Block Island CVE-106 Covers Page 1     (1944-1954)

 

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

---

1st Commissioning 30 December 1944 to 28 May 1946

 

Locy Type FDC 2z

1944-12-30

Commissioning,

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-03-09

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-08-03

Censored WWII use

---

2nd Commissioning 28 April 1951 to 27 August 1954

 

Locy Type FDPS 2

1951-06-01

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-84

1951-06-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-84a

1954-03-22

Note:

 

Locy Type 9efu

1954-03-22

Note:

 

Locy Type LDPS 2

1954-06-15

Last Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type LDPS 9efu

1954-06-15

Last Day Postal Service

 

Other Information

USS BLOCK ISLAND earned the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 2 Battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal (w/ "Asia" clasp) and the National Defense Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named in Honor of USS BLOCK ISLAND CVE-21 Sunk by German U-549 off Canary Islands 29 May 1944.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. E. J. Hallenbeck.

 

---

 

If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

---

Copyright 2026 Naval Cover Museum