HIGBEE DD 806

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 26 June 1944 - Launched 12 November 1944 USS HIGBEE DD-806 Commissioned 27 January 1945 USS HIGBEE DDR-806 Reclassified Radar Picket Destroyer (DDR) 18 March 1949 USS HIGBEE DD-806 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) 1 July 1963 Decommissioned 15 July 1979 Struck from Naval Register 15 July 1979 Sunk as target 24 April 1986 32° 28' 0.4" North, 119° 58' 0.7" West

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 Higbee DD-806 Covers Page 1    (1944-1977)
2. USS Higbee DDR-806 Covers Page 2    (DATE RANGE)
3. USS Higbee DD-806 Covers Page 3    (DATE RANGE)

 

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)

1948-06-21

DD-806

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DDR)

1956-01-21

DDR-806

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1973-08-10

DD-806. Ship's seal embossed

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1976-08-03

DD-806

 

Locy Type 2z*

1945-09-02

DD-806. Censored - Tokyo Bay

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu)

1948-06-21

DD-806

 

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

1977-02-26

DD-806

 

Other Information

USS HIGBEE earned the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 1 Battle star), the WWII Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal, the China Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal (2 awards), the Korean Service Medal (w/ 7 Campaign stars), the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal (w/ 6 Campaign stars), the United Nations Service Medal, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation ribbon, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Chief Nurse Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee, USN (18 May 1874 – 10 January 1941).
She was born Lenah H. Sutcliffe in Chatham, New Brunswick, on 18 May 1874. She completed nurses' training at the New York Postgraduate Hospital in 1899 and entered private practice soon thereafter. In October 1908, she joined the newly established U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as one of its first twenty members. These nurses, who came to be called "The Sacred Twenty", were the first women to formally serve as members of the Navy. She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1909.
In January 1911, Mrs. Higbee (she was the widow of Lieutenant Colonel John Henley Higbee, USMC) became the second Superintendent of the Nurse Corps. For her achievements in leading the Corps through the First World War, Chief Nurse Higbee was awarded the Navy Cross, the first living woman to receive that medal. She retired from the Navy in November 1922. Chief Nurse Lenah H. Higbee died at Winter Park, Florida, on 10 January 1941.
USS Higbee (DD-806), commissioned in 1945, was named in her honor, the first U.S. Navy combat ship to bear the name of a female member of the Naval service.

Two ships of the US Navy have been named in her honor - USS Higbee DD-806 and USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee DDG-123.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. A. M. Wheaton, sister of the late Mrs. Lenah S. Higbee.

 

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