TOLMAN MMD 28

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.

Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer
Keel Laid 10 April 1944 as DD-740
Robert H. Smith Class Light Minelayer
Redesignated Light Minelayer (DM) 19 July 1944
Launched 13 August 1944


1. USS TOLMAN DM-28
Commissioned 27 October 1944 - Decommissioned 29 January 1947


2. USS TOLMAN MMD-28
Reclassified Fast Minelayer (MMD) January 1969, while in reserve

Struck from Naval Register 1 December 1970
Sunk as target 25 January 1997

 

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. USS Tolman DM-28 Covers Page 1     (1944-1946)

 

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	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type 2z

1946-09-23

From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 9# (Br. #15140)

1946-11-23

Ship's name typed on front.

 

Locy Type SLbn+ (61x11)

1946-09-23

From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Other Information

USS TOLMAN earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ one battle star and the WWII Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Commander Charles E. Tolman, USN (25 June 1903 – 1 February 1943).
        Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Tolman entered the United States Naval Academy in the summer of 1921 and graduated on 4 June 1925. After serving in battleship USS Utah (BB-31), he was transferred to USS Worden (DD-288) in 1926. Tolman then completed training courses at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island, and at the Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut. He served in submarines USS O-4 (SS-65) in 1928 and USS S-22 (SS-127) from 1929 to 1932 when he returned to the Naval Academy for two years. Tolman served in submarine USS S-46 (SS-157) in 1934 and commanded USS S-30 (SS-135) from April 1935 to May 1937. He was attached to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations for 17 months before assuming command of USS Spearfish (SS-190) on 7 October 1939. In January 1941, Tolman joined the staff of Commander, Submarines, Atlantic Fleet.
        Comdr. Tolman became the commanding officer of USS De Haven (DD-469) upon her commissioning on 21 September 1942. The destroyer steamed to the South Pacific in November 1942 and supported operations in the Solomon Islands. On the afternoon of 1 February 1943, while escorting landing craft, De Haven was attacked by six Japanese dive bombers. Fighting off the attackers, the destroyer downed three enemy planes before a bomb struck her navigating bridge, stopped her, and killed Comdr. Tolman. Two more hits and a near miss doomed De Haven, which sank within two minutes. Comdr. Tolman was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his valiant leadership.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Helen Tolman.

 

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