FINCH DER 328

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 FINCH DE-328
Commissioned December 13 1943 - Decommissioned October 4 1946
USCGC FINCH WDE-428
Loaned to U.S. Coast Guard and Recommissioned August 21 1951
Returned to U.S. Navy and Decommissioned April 23 1954
Reclassified Radar Picket Escort (DER) October 21 1955
USS FINCH DER-328
Recommissioned August 17 1956 - Decommissioned October 1 1973

Stricken February 1 1974
Sold August 16 1974 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.

Finch Covers Page 1 (1953-66)

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 Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

1st Commissioning (USN) December 13 1943 to October 4 1946

Locy Type
2z

1946-02-19

DE-328. Cachet by Louis S. Pentel.

2nd Commissioning (USCG) August 24 1951 to April 23 1954

USPO
Machine Cancel

Seattle WA

1953-11-12

N/A

WDE-428

USPO
Machine Cancel

Alameda CA

1953-12-01

N/A

WDE-428

3rd Commissioning (USN) August 17 1956 to October 1 1973

Locy Type
2(n+) (USS)

1966-04-19

DER-328

Locy Type
2t(n+u)

1956-11-20

DER-328. Cachet by B. Saunders Bullard

Other Information

USS FINCH earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal w/ star, the Vietnam Service Medal (w/ 6 Campaign stars), the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citationand the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Lt. Joseph Warren Finch Jr USNR (1920-42)
Finch was killed in action when his ship USS LAFFEY DD-459 was sunk in The Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13 1942.

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