MASSEY DD 778

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.

Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer Keel Laid 14 January 1944 - Launched 19 August 1944 USS MASSEY DD-778 Commissioned 24 November 1944 - Decommissioned 17 September 1973 Struck from Naval Register 17 September 1973 Sold 13 November 1974 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 name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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 Massey DD-778 Covers Page 1     (1946-1970)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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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1st Post Office Period October 25 1944 to Januaary 13 1960

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1948-09-22

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z

1946-08-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu)

1948-01-03

Note:

 

Locy Type 9# (Br. #15063)

1946-10-25

Note:

 

Locy Type SL

1946-08-26

From the Bob Govern collection.

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2nd Post Office Period 1 June 1960 to 28 February 1973

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1965-10-25

Note:

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS)

1962-05-24

Note:

 

Locy Type 9ef(n+u) (USS)

1970-07-04

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Other Information

USS MASSEY received 2 battle stars for World War II service and 4 battle stars for European service

NAMESAKE - Lieutenant Commander Lance E. Massey, USN (20 September 1909 - 4 June 1942)
Massey was a 1930 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; he became a Naval aviator in 1932. In the first months of the Pacific War, he served with Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) on USS ENTERPRISE CV-6 and later took command of Torpedo Squadron Three (VT-3), flying from USS YORKTOWN CV-5. On 4 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, Lieutenant Commander Massey was killed in action while leading his squadron in an attack on the Japanese aircraft carrier force.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Marjorie Drake Massey, widow of Lieutenant Commander Lance E. Massey.

 

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