LEARY DD 879

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.

Gearing Class Destroyer Keel Laid 11 August 1944 - Launched 20 January 1945 USS LEARY DD-879 Commissioned 7 May 1945 USS LEARY DDR-879 Redesignated Radar Picket Destroyer (DDR) 18 March 1949 USS LEARY DD-879 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) 1 December 1963 Decommissioned 31 October 1973 Struck from Naval Register 2 June 1975 LANGARA D-64 (Spanish Naval Service) Loaned to Spain 31 October 1973 and renamed Sold to Spain 17 May 1978 Stricken by Spain and scrapped 1992

LANGARA D-64

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 Leary DD-879 Covers Page 1     (1945-1949)
2. USS Leary DDR-879 Covers Page 1     (1949-1963)
3. USS Leary DD-879 Covers Page 1     (1963-1973)

 

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 2(n) (Oct 27, 1945)

1945-10-27

DD-879

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1948-05-13

DD-879

 

Locy Type 2(n) (USS,"DDR")

1963-06-08

DDR-879. Welcome to Norfolk German Destroyer No. 3. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1970-10-27

DD-879

 

Locy Type 2r

1956-03-27

DDR-879

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (DDR,USS)

1961-05-12

DDR-879

 

Locy Type 2t(nu) (DD)

1969-02-06

DD-879

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-05-12

DD-879. Mark from the back of the cover.

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu) (DD)

1947-07-07

DD-879

 

Locy Type 9efu

1961-07-01

DDR-879

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Lieutenant Clarence F. Leary, USN (11 January 1894 – 20 July 1918)
Leary was born in Fowey, England on 11 January 1894. He came to the United States with his family as a boy. After the United States entered World War I he was commissioned Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve on 12 June 1918. He was appointed executive officer in USS Carlton Hall ID 1359. He died of burns and smoke inhalation when he entered the ship’s burning hold on 20 July, in an attempt to save both ship and crew. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his self-sacrificing valor.

Two ships of the US Navy have been named in his honor; USS Leary DD-158 and USS Leary DD-879.

NAMESAKE (LANGARA) Juan Cayetano de Lángara y Huarte was born in La Coruña, 1736 and died in Madrid, 18 January 1806. Spanish sailor, mathematician and cartographer who served as Minister of the Navy and General Manager of the Navy under king Charles IV. Son of Juan de Lángara y Aritzmendi, also a sailor. Lángara was a Knight of the Order of Calatrava and a Knight of the Order of Carlos III. With the rank of Captain General, he held an effective position in the State Council.

 

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