HERCULES AK 41

From NavalCoverMuseum
Revision as of 19:06, 27 August 2026 by GregCiesielski (talk | contribs) (Added 3 postmarks / 1 cover)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

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.

    Hercules Class Cargo Ship
    Keel Laid (date unknown) as SS Exporter
    Launched 18 July 1939
    Acquired by US Navy 15 July 1941

  1. USS HERCULES AK-41
    Commissioned 30 November 1942 - Decommissioned 28 June 1946

    Struck from Naval Register 31 July 1946
    Transferred July 18 1946 to MARCOM

    Custody transferred to Sun Shipbuilding for conversion 12 December 1946 & renamed
  2. EXERMONT (Commercial Service)

    Sold in 1947 to Shepard Steamship Co. and renamed
  3. BOSTONIAN (Commercial Service)

    Sold in 1950 to American Export Lines, Inc. and renamed
  4. EXERMONT (Commercial Service)

    Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet 1958
    Scrapped 1971

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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 Hercules AK-41 Covers Page 1     (1944-1946)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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
2rtz

1946-04-18

Add-on cachet by Michael F. Hebert


 

Locy Type
3z (BTT)

1944-03-04

Official Business.


 

Locy Type 9#

(Branch #15536)

1946-05-25

Note:


 

Locy Type
LDPS 2rtz

1946-06-16

Last Day of Postal Service. Courtesy of Bob Govern.


 

Locy Type
LDPS 3z(BTT)
(Undated)

1946-06-16

Last Day of Postal Service. Courtesy of Bob Govern. Unlisted in the USCS Postmark cancel.


 

Locy Type
LDPS 9#

(Branch #15536)

1946-06-16

Last Day of Postal Service. Courtesy of Bob Govern. Unlisted in the USCS Postmark cancel.

 

Other Information

USS HERCULES earned the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 5 Battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal and the Philippines Liberation Medal (2 awards) during her Naval service.

NAMESAKE - Hercules, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, was celebrated in Greek mythology for his great strength. He was especially famous for the 12 "Herculean" tasks or "labors" imposed on him as a result of the hatred of Hera, Zeus' jealous wife.

 


 

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.

 


Copyright 2026 Naval Cover Museum