SOUTH CAROLINA CGN 37

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.

California Class Guided Missile Frigate Keel Laid 1 December 1970 - Launched 1 July 1972 USS SOUTH CAROLINA DLGN-37 Commissioned 25 January 1975 USS SOUTH CAROLINA CGN-37 Redesignated Guided Missile Cruiser (CGN) 1 July 1975 Decommissioned 30 July 1999 Struck from Naval Register 30 July 1999 Recycling completed 10 May 2010.

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 South Carolina DLGN-37 / CGN-37 Covers Page 1    (1974-1999)

 

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

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Post Office Established 1 October 1974

 

Locy Type 2-1(n) (USS, "DLGN")

1974-10-15

Sea Trials

 

Locy Type 9-1e(n) (USS, "DLGN")

1974-10-15

Sea Trials. Cachet by Rich Hoffner, sponsored by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

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Commissioned 25 January 1975 - Decommissioned 30 July 1999

 

Locy Type FDC 2-1(n) (USS,"DLGN")

1975-01-25

Commissioning. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type FDC 9-1e(n)

1974-10-25

Commissioning. Cachet by Frederick L. Karcher
Most (if not all) Karcher covers are fakes made with stolen cancels and cachets made by USCS No. 1

 

Locy Type 2-1(n) (USS, "DLGN")

1975-03-31

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (D1, USS)

1988-06-06

The USS South Carolina welcomes the USS Simon Bolivar SSBN-641 to Norfolk VA. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (D2, USS)

1985-10-16

The USS South Carolina welcomes the USS Benjamin Franklin SSBN-640 to Norfolk VA. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson. Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 2-1t(nu) (CGN,USS)

1980-12-22

Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type F "LAST / NUCLEAR / CRUISER"

1999-07-30

Decommissioning. Cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

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USPS Postmarks

 

USPS Slogan Machine Cancel "CHRISTENING OF / THE USS / SOUTH CAROLINA" Newport News VA

1972-07-01

Contributed by Jennifer Hoffman.

 

USPS Pictorial Cancel "Deactivation Ceremony Station" Norfolk, VA

1998-09-04

Deactivation Ceremony. Cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

USS SOUTH CAROLINA earned the Joint Meritorious Unit Award Ribbon, the Coast Guard Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon (2 awards), the Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (3 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal (w/ 1 Campaign star), the Armed Forces Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (11 awards), the Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon (2 awards), NATO Medal (for Yugoslavia) and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for The State of South Carolina

The ships sponsor was Mrs. J. Fred Buzhardt.

Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name SOUTH CAROLINA - USS South Carolina (Schooner, 1798), USS South Carolina (Coastal Patrol Vessel, 1799), USS South Carolina (Screw Steamer, 1860), USS South Carolina BB-26 and USS South Carolina CGN-37.

One ship of the South Carolina Navy bore the name SOUTH CAROLINA - South Carolina (Frigate, 1788)

One ship of the US Revenue Cutter Service bore the name SOUTH CAROLINA - USRC South Carolina (Schooner, 1793).

 

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