OSCAR V PETERSON T-AO 206
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.
Naming Ceremony by SecNav Ray Mabus 16 August 2016 First steel cut 13 December 2019 - Keel Authenticated 3 September 2020 Christened and Launched 6 November 2021 |
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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.
- USNS Harvey Milk T-AO-206 Covers Page 1 (2020-2021)
- USNS Oscar V. Peterson Milk T-AO-206 Covers Page 1 (Date)
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.
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Postmark Type |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
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USPS |
2020-09-03 |
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Keel Laying Ceremony, cachet by Richard D. Jones
Other Information
NAMESAKE - Harvey Milk (22 May 1930 – 27 November 1978)
Milk was born in the New York City suburb of Woodmere, the younger son of Lithuanian Jewish parents. Milk graduated from Bay Shore High School in Bay Shore, NY, in 1947 and attended New York State College for Teachers in Albany (now the State University of New York at Albany) from 1947 to 1951, majoring in mathematics. After graduation, Milk joined the United States Navy during the Korean War. He served aboard the submarine rescue ship USS Kittiwake ASR-13 as a diving officer. He later transferred to Naval Station, San Diego to serve as a diving instructor. In 1955, he was discharged from the Navy at the rank of lieutenant, junior grade.
After his time in the US Navy, Milk worked as a teacher and in the insurance business. In the early 1970's, Milk began to become involved in the local politics of San Francisco becoming a city commissioner in 1976. In 1977, Milk was elected City Supervisor for District 5, the first openly gay man to do so. On 27 November 1978, Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by former City Supervisor Dan White.
NAMESAKE - Chief Watertender Oscar V. Peterson, USN (27 August 1899 – 13 May 1942)
Peterson was born in Prentice, Wisconsin, and enlisted in the United States Navy on 8 December 1920. By the United States' entry into World War II, Peterson had achieved the rank of Chief Watertender. He was assigned to USS Neosho AO-23, a replenishment oiler operating in the Pacific theater.
On 7 May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea, USS Neosho was heavily damaged by Japanese dive bomber aircraft. In one bombing raid, Peterson and members of the repair party he led were severely wounded. Despite his injuries, he managed to close four bulkhead steam line valves, but suffered third-degree burns to his face, shoulders, arms and hands in the process. By shutting the valves, Peterson isolated the steam to the engine room and helped keep the ship operational. USS Neosho was eventually scuttled on 11 May by gunfire from the destroyer USS Henley DD-391. Henley had taken aboard 123 survivors from USS Neosho. Peterson died of his burn injuries on 13 May and was buried at sea, several hundred miles off the coast of Australia.
For his heroic actions, Peterson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Chief Peterson earned the Purple Heart Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two battle stars and the World War II Victory Medal.
In 1943, USS PETERSON DE-152 was commissioned in his honor and memory.
The ships sponsors are Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, and Ms. Paula Neira, former naval officer and USNA class of 1985.
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