DES MOINES CL 17

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 DES MOINES Cruiser No. 15
Commissioned March 5 1904 - Decommissioned December 6 1911
Recommissioned September 3 1912
USS DES MOINES PG-29
Reclassified Gunboat (PG) July 17 1920
Decommissioned April 9 1921
Reclassified Light Cruiser (CL) August 8 1921, While in reserve

Struck from Naval Register December 13 1929
Sold March 11 1930 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.

Des Moines Covers Page 1 (1909-17)

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

USPO Duplex

Oregon

1908-07-01

U.S.S. "Des Moines" at anchor
Tompkinsville N. Y.

USPO CDS

Wyoming

1924-03-11

U.S.S. DES MOINES

1st Commissioning March 5 1904 to December 6 1911

Locy Type
1

1911-03-26

As Cruiser No. 15
Picture postcard of the high school, Portsmouth, VA
Bruce D. Liddell collection

Locy Type
1

1911-03-26

As Cruiser No. 15
Picture postcard of the high school, Portsmouth, VA
Bruce D. Liddell collection

Locy Type
9v

1911-10-15

As Cruiser No. 15
Cut piece pasted to cover

2nd Commissioning September 3 1912 to April 9 1921

Locy Type
3
" /
CRETE"

1915-09-10

As Cruiser No. 15

Locy Type
3b (XOX)

"HARWICH /
ENGLAND"

1919-05-04

As Cruiser No. 15
Picture postcard from Plymouth England
Free Frank Officers Mail from Lt. Owen E. Grissom USN to his mother.
The USS Des Moines was enroute from New York City to Archangel, Russia, and duty with the Naval Forces in Northern Russia.
Bruce D. Liddell collection

Locy Type
3b (XOX)

"HARWICH /
ENGLAND"

1919-05-04

As Cruiser No. 15
Picture postcard from Plymouth England
Free Frank Officers Mail from Lt. Owen E. Grissom USN to his mother.
The USS Des Moines was enroute from New York City to Archangel, Russia, and duty with the Naval Forces in Northern Russia.
Bruce D. Liddell collection

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Des Moines, Iowa

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.