SWEETGUM WLB 309

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.

Mesquite Class 180 ft Seagoing Buoy Tender Keel Laid February 21 1943 - Christened and Launched April 15 1943 USCGC SWEETGUM WAGL-309 Commissioned November 20 1943 USCGC SWEETGUM WLB-309 Reclassified (WLB) 1965 Decommissioned for overhaul February 2 1990 Recommissioned (Special) December 1 1991 Recommissioned (Full) January 10 1992 - Decommissioned February 15 2002 SMN INDEPENDENCIA No. 401 Transferred to Panama

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. Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

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

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1st Commissioning November 20 1943 to February 2 1990

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-08-15

N/A

Censored tobacco acknowledgement card to General Motors Corp.

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-08-15

N/A

Censored tobacco acknowledgement card to General Motors Corp.

 

USPS 4-bar Mayport FL

1975-09-03

N/A

Homeport - Mayport FL September 1 1946 to February 2 1990
Add-on cachet by Michael Hebert (Mh Cachets)

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2nd Commissioning January 10 1992 to February 15 2002

 

USPS Type 9 Mobile, AL

2002-02-15

N/A

Homeport - Mobile AL January 10 1992 to February 15 2002
Decommissioning, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

USCGC SWEETGUM was awarded the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation in 1978 for "meritorious service and exemplary performance of specially assigned aids to navigation and an emergency helicopter recovery mission and display of an extremely high level of professionalism and dedication to duty during the period of 20 March to 1 May 1978."

NAMESAKE - A North American tree of the genus Liquidambar having prickly spherical fruit clusters and fragrant sap.

 

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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.

 

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