WASP CVS 18

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.

Essex (Short Hull) Class Carrier Keel Laid March 18 1942 Launched August 17 1943 as ORISKANY Renamed September 26 1942 USS WASP CV-18 Commissioned November 24 1943 - Decommissioned November 19 1946 Recommissioned September 10 1951 following modernization USS WASP CVA-18 Redesignated Attack Carrier (CVA) October 1 1952 USS WASP CVS-18 Redesignated Anti-submarine Carrier (CVS) November 1 1956 Decommissioned July 1 1972 Struck from Naval Register July 1 1972 Sold May 21 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. Covers Page 1    (1944-72)

 

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	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

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1st Commissioning November 24 1943 to November 19 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n) (CV)

1946-01-28

As CV-18

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-12-29

As CV-18
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 2rtz

1945-09-30

As CV-18

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-12

1945-10-27

As CV-18

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2nd Commissioning September 10 1951 to July 1 1972

 

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

1965-03-15

As CVS-18

 

Locy Type 2r

1951-10-09

As CV-18

 

Locy Type 2pr

1952-05-15

As CV-18

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-12b

1963-01-25

As CVS-18

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-12c

1964-05-16

As CVS-18

 

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

1972-02-23

As CVS-18

 

Locy Type 7tnu (Large Letters)

1966-06-06

As CVS-18

 

Locy Type 7tnu (Small Letters)

1966-06-06

As CVS-18

 

Locy Type 9efu

1952-05-15

As CV-18

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USPS Pictorial "Stinger Station" Quincy, MA

1993-11-24

No Image

50th Anniversary of Commissioning, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

WASP earned 8 Battle Stars for World War II service

NAMESAKE - USS WASP CV-7
Hit by three torpedoes from Japanese submarine I-19 September 15 1942 while operating in the Southwestern Pacific in support of forces on Guadalcanal. Gasoline fires became rapidly uncontrollable and she had to be abandoned. Scuttled by USS LANSDOWNE DD-486. Destroyers LAFFEY DD-459 and LANSDOWNE, and cruisers HELENA CL-50 and SALT LAKE CITY CA-25 rescued 1,946 men. One hundred and ninety-three of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on active duty

 

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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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