ARAPAHO ATF 68

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 ARAPAHO AT-68
Commissioned January 20 1943
USS ARAPAHO ATF-68
Reclassified Fleet Ocean Tug (ATF) May 15 1944
Decommissioned January 15 1947
Laid up in Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group

Struck from Naval Register July 10 1961
ARA COMANDANTE GENERAL ZAPIOLA A-2 (Argentine Naval Service)
Transferred to Argentina and renamed July 10 1961
Ran aground January 10 1976 and declared a total loss

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 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.

Covers Page 1 (1942-46)

Postmarks

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.

>>> 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

Post Office Established April 10 1943 - Disestablished April 10 1946

Locy Type
2z*

1943-10-08

As AT-68

Locy Type
2z* + SL

1946-02-05

As ATF-68
USCS Postmark Catalog lists as Type 2z + SL, stars clearly present

Other Information

ARAPAHO earned four battle stars during World War II
* Gilbert Islands operation
November 20 to December 4 1943
* Marshall Islands operation
Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, February 3-8 1944
* Tinian Capture and Occupation, July 24-28 1944
* 5th and 3rd Fleet raids in support of the Okinawa Gunto operation
March 20-23 1945

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

NAMESAKE - An important plains tribe of the Algonquian family—closely associated with the Cheyenne—who lived between the south fork of the Platte River and the headwaters of the Arkansas. The name itself may be derived from the Pawnee words "tirapihu" or "larapihu," meaning trader.

Three ships of the US Navy have been named ARAPAHO - USS Arapaho (Sloop of War 1866), USS Arapaho AT-14 and USS Arapaho ATF-68.

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