KING DD 242

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 KING DD 242
Commissioned December 16 1920 - Decommissioned March 10 1931
Recommissioned June 13 1932 - Decommissioned September 21 1938
Recommissioned September 26 1939 - Decommissioned October 23 1945

Stricken November 16 1945
Sold September 29 1946 and broken up 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.

Covers Page 1 (1927-43)

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 December 16 1920 to March 10 1931

Locy Type 3r

1927-02-02

Registered, Official Business cut-square

2nd Commissioning June 13 1932 to September 21 1938

Locy Type
FDC 5hks

"RECOMM /
TODAY"

1932-06-13

First Day of Commissioning

Locy Type
3s (AC-BTT)

"SAN DIEGO /
CAL."

1935-12-16

15th Birthday, cachet by Ted Harrington

Locy Type
3s (AC-BTT)

"PORTSMOUTH /
VA"

1936-06-14

Flag Day, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

Locy Type
3bs (AC-BTX)

"SAN DIEGO /
{blank}"

1937-12-16

17th Anniversary of Commissioning, Cachet by Frederick Horton

Locy Type
LDC 3r

"LAST DAY /
SAN DIEGO"

1938-09-21

Last Day of Commissioning. Cachet by Al Cohen

USPO Slogan
Machine cancel

"Mare Island Sta."

Vallejo CA

1932-11-23

N/A

Official Business.

3rd Commissioning September 26 1939 to October 23 1945

Locy Type
3r (A-BBT)

1941-09-25

Note:

Locy Type
3z (OBO)

1943-04-25

Censored wartime (WWII) use

Other Information

USS KING received one battle star for World War II service.

NAMESAKE: Commander Frank Ragan King, USN (October 15 1884 – July 12 1919). C.O. of the trawler "Richard Buckley" on minesweeping duty in the North Sea. On July 12 1919 his ship struck a mine and went down in only seven minutes. Commander King's final act before going down with his ship was to strap his own life preserver to a stunned sailor and help him over the side. Comdr. King received the Distinguished Service Medal for his valor.

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