ASTORIA CA 34

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.

New Orleans Class Light Cruiser Keel Laid 1 September 1930 - Launched 16 December 1933 Redesignated Heavy Cruiser (CA) 1 July 1931 USS ASTORIA CA-34 Commissioned 28 April 1934 SUNK (Enemy Gunfire) 8 August 1942 during Battle of Savo Island

 

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 Astoria CA-34 Covers Page 1    (1933-1942)

 

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

 

Locy Type F "First / Day" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. A-51

1934-04-28

Commissioning

 

Locy Type 3 (BC-BTT) "HONOLULU / T.H."

1934-09-15

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB)

1938-07-28

Note:

 

Locy Type 7z

1942-05-17

Censored sailors mail

 

Locy Type 9v

1936-07-03

Note:

 

Locy Type 9x

1939-11-05

Favor strike on stamp block

 

Other Information

USS ASTORIA earned the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, the American Defense Service Medal w/ Fleet Clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 3 Battle stars, and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Astoria, Oregon.

The ships sponsor was Miss Leila C. McKay, great-granddaughter of one of the founders of Astoria, Ore.

Four ships of the United States Navy have been named ASTORIA - USS Astoria (1867, renamed OMAHA), USS Astoria AK-8, USS Astoria CA-34 and USS Astoria CL-90.

 

---

 

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