BENNINGTON CVS 20

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.

USS BENNINGTON CV-20
Commissioned August 6 1944 - Decommissioned November 8 1946
USS BENNINGTON CVA-20
Reclassified Attack Aircraft Carrier (CVA) October 1 1952
Recommissioned November 13 1952
USS BENNINGTON CVS-20
Reclassified Anti-submarine Aircraft Carrier (CVS) June 30 1959
Decommissioned January 15 1970

Struck from Naval Register September 20 1989
Sold January 12 1994 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.

Bennington Covers Page 1 (1944-67)

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 Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

1st Commissioning August 6 1944 to November 8 1946

Locy Type
2(n)

1946-02-28

As CV-20

Locy Type
2z

1944-09-30

As CV-20

Locy Type
2#

(Br. #16028)

1945-09-12

As CV-20
Tokyo Bay

Locy Type
9efu

1945-06-27

As CV-20
Marking from back of cover

2nd Commissioning November 13 1952 to January 15 1970

Locy Type
FDR 2

1952-11-13
to
1952-11-13

Notes:

Locy Type
FDR 9efu

1952-11-13
to
1952-11-13

Notes:

Locy Type
2

1954-09-27

As CVA-20

Locy Type
2(n+)

USCS Catalog
Illustration
B-29a

1961-11-11

As CVS-20

Locy Type
2(n+)

USCS Catalog
Illustration
B-29c

1967-01-09

As CVS-20
Vietnam War free franking

Locy Type
7tn+u

1967-11-09

As CVS-20

Other Information

BENNINGTON earned 3 Battle Stars for World War II service and 5 Battle Stars for Vietnam service

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2) - China Service Medal (Extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3 stars) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal ("Asia" clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2) - Vietnam Service Medal (4 stars) - Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross Medal with Palm) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Bennington, Vermont. One of the most historic battles of the Revolutionary War took place there on August 16 1777

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