SURIBACHI AE 21

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.

Suribachi Class Ammunition Ship Keel Laid 31 January 1955 - Launched 2 November 1955 USS SURIBACHI AE-21 Commissioned 17 November 1956 Placed "In Commission, In Reserve" from the spring of 1963 to 15 December 1965 for overhaul Decommissioned 2 December 1994 Struck from Naval Register 12 December 1996 Sold 8 June 2009 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 Suribachi AE-21 Covers Page 1    (1956-1989)

 

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 FDC 2t(n+u)

1956-11-17

First Day in Commission

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1970-10-17

Note:

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u)

1958-03-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 2t(nu) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. S-72

1961-03-03

Note:

 

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

1974-10-10

From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (A,USS)

1980-06-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (B,USS)

1989-04-26

Note:

 

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

1970-10-17

Note:

 

Locy Type LDC F "Last Day / In / Commission" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. S-72b

1994-12-02

Decommissioning, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

USS SURIBACHI earned the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon (2 awards), the Navy "E" Ribbon (2 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2 awards), the Vietnam Service Medal (w/ 1 Campaign star), the Southwest Asia Service Medal and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - An extinct volcano on the southern tip of Iwo Jima in the Bonin-Volcano Islands. The beaches at the foot of the mountain were the sites of the Marine assault on 19 February 1945. The crest of Mt. Suribachi was the scene of the 23 February 1945 flag raising immortalized in the picture taken by the Associated Press photographer, Joe Rosenthal.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Lemuel C. Shepherd, wife of General Lemuel C. Shepard, Jr., 20th Commandant US Marine Corps.

 

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