View source for WALTER S GORKA APD 114

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<h3>Ship Name and Designation History</h3>
This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during 
its lifetime.
The list is in chronological order.
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<ol>Crosley Class High-speed Transport<br/>
Keel Laid April 3 1945 as Rudderrow Class Destroyer Escort DE-604<br/>
Redesignated High-speed Transport (APD) July 17 1944<br/>
Launched May 26 1945<br/><br/>
<li>'''USS WALTER S. GORKA APD-114'''<br/>
Commissioned August 7 1945 - Decommissioned March 20 1947<br/>
Laid up in Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group<br/><br/>
Struck from Naval Register June 1 1960<br/>
Transferred to Ecuador August 1961 for use as a power hulk<br/><br/>
Fate unknown
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<h3>Naval Covers</h3>
This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the 
ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for 
example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same 
ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 
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.
<ol>
<li>[[USS WALTER S. GORKA APD-114_Covers_Page_1 | Covers Page 1 ]] &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(1945)</li>
</ol>
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<h3>Postmarks</h3>
This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a 
separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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.
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>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the
existing example.
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Postmark Type<br/>---<br/>Killer Bar Text
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Postmark<br/>Date</th>
<th align="center" width="320">Thumbnail Link To<br/>Postmark Image</th>
<th align="center" width="120">Thumbnail Link To<br/>Cover Image</th>
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Locy Type<br/>2#<br/><br/>(Br. #16143)
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1945-12-19
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[[Image:JonBurdett waltersgorka apd114 19451219 pm.jpg|thumb|center|300px]]
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[[Image:JonBurdett waltersgorka apd114 19451219.JPG|thumb|center|100px]]
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Note:
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Other Information</h3>
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...<br/>
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal<br/><br/>
'''NAMESAKE''' - Walter Stanley Gorka USNR (March 24 1922 - November 10 1942)<br/>
Gorka enlisted in the Naval Reserve at Hartford, Conn., on May 15 1940 and eventually attained the rate of Aviation Ordnanceman, Third Class. Attached to Escort Scouting Squadron (VGS) 27 which was embarked in the Auxiliary Carrier [[SUWANNEE CVHE 27|USS SUWANNEE ACV-27]] at the time of Operation "Torch", the invasion of French North Africa—Gorka served as bombardier and gunner in the aircrew of a Grumman TBF-1 Avenger of that squadron. On November 8 1942, the first day of the landings— SUWANNEE's air group bombed French ships and shore installations in the Casablanca area, including the immobile but formidable Battleship JEAN BART and the coast defense and shore batteries at Table d'Aukasha. Two days later, Gorka went on an attack mission against a French submarine. The French antiaircraft fire proved deadly accurate, and Gorka's plane was shot down. For his performance of duty with VGS-27 during "Torch," Gorka received the Air Medal posthumously

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<p>&nbsp;</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
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