NEW MEXICO BB 40

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 Mexico Class Battleship Keel Laid 14 October 1915 as CALIFORNIA Renamed 22 March 1916 Launched 13 April 1917 USS NEW MEXICO Battleship No. 40 Commissioned 20 May 1918 USS NEW MEXICO BB-40 Designated (BB) 17 July 1920 Decommissioned 19 July 1946 Struck from Naval Register 25 February 1947 Sold 9 November 1947 for scrap

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 New Mexico BB-40 Covers Page 1    (1920-1945)

 

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 1918 - Disestablished 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1945-11-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-09-02

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (B-TBT) "NAVY DAY / PHILA. PA"

1933-10-27

Navy Day 1933

 

Locy Type 3 (BC-BBT) "SAN FRANC / CALIFORNIA"

1935-08-15

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TTT) "NAVY / DAY"

1935-10-27

Navy Day, cachet by John Coulthard

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TTT) (appears enlarged) "SAN DIEGO / CALIF"

1939-05-30

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BTT) "BREMERTON / WASH."

1940-03-28

Note:

 

Locy Type 3a (B)

1925-01-20

Note:

 

Locy Type 3z (BTT) "BUY WAR / BONDS"

1943-10-25

Note:

 

Locy Type 5hks "BALBOA / CANAL ZONE"

1931-02-24

Note:

 

Locy Type 6

1932-11-24

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 6 ("At Sea")

1938-03-16

Note:

 

Locy Type 7 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. N-10

1922-06-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 7 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. N-10b

1925-05-15

Note:

 

Locy Type 7qt(2)

1935-06-26

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 7qtz(2)

1942-10-21

Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 9v 1934

1935-08-15

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 9v 1938-41

1938-02-23

Note:

 

Locy Type 9v 1942

1942-08-19

Mark from back of cover

 

Locy Type 9w 1933

1935-08-15

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 9efw

1938-02-23

Note:

 

Locy Type 9x 1932

1935-08-15

Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type P (Type 3 dial "U.S. FLEET") (Killer text "FIRST DAY / NEW MEXICO")

1934-06-15

See United States Fleet

 

Locy Type P (Type 3 dial "UNITED STATES FLEET") (Killer text "USS N MEX / FLAG")

1934-11-11

Armistice Day. UNCATALOGED postmark. See United States Fleet

 

Locy Type P (Type 3 dial "U.S. / FLEET") (Killer text "LONG BEACH / SAN PEDRO")

1934-11-11

Armistice Day. UNCATALOGED postmark. See United States Fleet. Add-on cachet by Richard F. Hoffner.

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-06-15

"Opinion" - With one month left in Commission, could this postmark symbolize the Last Day of Postal Service? They isn't any reference to the First Day or Last Day of Postal Service.
From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Other Information

USS NEW MEXICO earned the following awards for her service during World War II - the American Defense Service Medal with "Fleet" clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with six battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Medal with "Asia" clasp and the Philippine Liberation Medal with two stars.

NEW MEXICO BB-40 was at Tokyo Bay on September 2 1945 for the Japanese surrender

NAMESAKE - Named for The State of New Mexico

Two ships of the US Navy have borne the name NEW MEXICO - USS New Mexico BB-40 and USS New Mexico SSN-779

The ships sponsor was Miss Margaret Cabeza De Baca, the daughter of the recently deceased Governor of New Mexico, Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca (died 28 February 1917).

 

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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.

 

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