BON HOMME RICHARD CVA 31

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 Class Aircraft Carrier Keel Laid February 1 1943 - Launched April 29 1944 USS BON HOMME RICHARD CV-31 Commissioned November 26 1944 - Decommissioned January 9 1947 Recommissioned January 15 1951 USS BON HOMME RICHARD CVA-31 Reclassified Attack Aircraft Carrier (CVA) October 1 1952 Decommissioned May 15 1953 Recommissioned September 6 1955 - Decommissioned July 2 1971 Struck from Naval Register September 20 1989 Sold 1992 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. Bon Homme Richard Covers Page 1    (1945-70)

 

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

 

Brooklyn NY Navy Yard Sta. Machine

1944-04-29

Launching

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1st Commissioning November 26 1944 to January 9 1947

 

Locy Type 2(n) Oct 27, 1945

1945-10-27

As CV-31
Navy Day, stationary from the "Seattle Navy Mothers' Hostess House".

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1945-11-02

As CV-31

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-01-27

As CV-31

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2nd Commissioning January 15 1951 to May 15 1953

 

Locy Type 2

1951-04-04

As CV-31

 

Locy Type 7

1953-01-17

As CVA-31

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3rd Commissioning September 6 1955 to July 2 1971

 

Locy Type FDPS 2 (BON HOME RICHARD)

1955-09-06

As CVA-31
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9efu (BON HOME RICHARD)

1955-09-06

As CVA-31
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2 (BON HOME RICHARD)

1955-09-26

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2(n+)

1956-12-08

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87

1966-10-27

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87a

1970-04-04

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS) 1968

1967-10-27

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS) 1970

1970-05-30

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 7n+

1961-06-24 to 1961-06-25

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type 7t(n+u) (USS)

1969-08-13

As CVA-31
"Free" Sailor Mail

 

Locy Type 9efu (BON HOME RICHARD)

1961-06-24 to 1961-06-25

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87b

1962-09-01

As CVA-31

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87c

1960-06-14

As CVA-31

 

Other Information

BON HOMME RICHARD received 1 battle star for her World War II service and 5 battle stars for Korean service

NAMESAKE - Bonhomme Richard is the French equivalent of "Poor Richard." John Paul Jones gave the famous ship this name in honor of Benjamin Franklin

 

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