SEA CAT SS 399

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.

Balao Class Submarine Keel Laid 30 October 1943 - Launched 21 February 1944 USS SEA CAT SS-399 Commissioned 16 May 1944 USS SEA CAT AGSS-399 Redesignated Auxiliary Research Submarine (AGSS) 30 September 1949 USS SEA CAT SS-399 Reverted to Submarine (SS) 9 January 1952 Decommissioned 2 December 1968 Struck from Naval Register 2 December 1968 Sold 18 May 1973 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 Sea Cat SS-399 Covers Page 1     (1944-1946)
2. USS Sea Cat AGSS-399 Covers Page 1     (1949-1952)
3. USS Sea Cat SS-399 Covers Page 1     (1956)
4. USS Sea Cat SS-399 Reunion Covers Page 1     (2001-2005)

 

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 Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

---

USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Ship's Reunion Station" Biloxi, MS

2001-10-29

Crewmember's Reunion.

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Ship's Reunion Station" Myrtle Beach, SC

2002-09-26

Crewmember's Reunion. Cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Ship's Reunion Station" Saint Charles, MO

2003-09-17

Crewmember's Reunion. Cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Ship's Reunion Station" Chattanooga, TN

2005-10-13

Crewmember's Reunion. Cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

USS SEA CAT earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 3 battle stars) and the WWII Victory Medal during her Naval career.

USS SEA CAT was at Tokyo Bay 2 September 1945 for the Japanese surrender ceremony

NAMESAKE - A shortened form of sea catfish, a marine fish of little food value found off the southeastern coast of the United States.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Edward L. Cochrane.

 

---

 

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