GURKE DD 783

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.

Gearing Class Destroyer Keel Laid 1 July 1944 as John A. Bole - Launched 15 February 1945 USS GURKE DD-783 Commissioned 12 May 1945 - Decommissioned 30 January 1976 Struck from Naval Register 30 January 1976 HNS TOMBAZIS D-215 (Greek Naval Service) Sold to Greece 17 March 1977 and renamed Decommissioned 12 January 1997 Stricken 12 January 1997 Laid up in Souda Bay Crete January 1998

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 Gurke DD-783 Covers Page 1    (1946-1949)

 

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 2(n+) (USS)

1970-04-27

Cachet by Frederick L. Karcher. FRAUDULENT use of the "FREE" mail privilege.

 

Locy Type 2t(nu)

1947-11-06

Note:

 

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

1975-05-19

Note:

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #15843)

1946-01-04

Note:

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. G-39

1947-11-06

Note:

 

Locy Type 9#

1946-09-30

From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Other Information

USS GURKE earned the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal (w/ 7 Battle stars), the UN Korean Service Medal and the R.O.K. War Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Private First Class Henry Gurke, USMC (6 November 1922 – 9 November 1943).
Henry Gurke was born at Neche, North Dakota. Enlisting in the Marine Corps 15 April 1942, he participated in the invasion and occupation of Pavuvu, Russell Islands. Private Gurke was killed during the battle for Bougainville 9 November 1943. He and another Marine were sharing a foxhole to defend a vital road when a Japanese grenade dropped directly in on them. Knowing that his companion manned an automatic weapon with greater fire power than his own and could thereby provide more effective resistance, Gurke thrust the other Marine aside and threw himself over the grenade to smother the explosion. For his gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, Private Gurke was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Julius Gurke, mother of Private Gurke.

NAMESAKE (Tombazis) - Named after Admiral Iakovos Tombazis.

 

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