RANKIN LKA 103

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.

Tolland Class Amphibious Cargo Ship Keel Laid 31 October 1944 - Launched 22 December 1944 Acquired by US Navy 25 January 1945 USS RANKIN AKA-103 Commissioned Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) 25 February 1945 Decommissioned 21 May 1947 Recommissioned 22 March 1952 USS RANKIN LKA-103 Redesignated Amphibious Cargo Ship (LKA) 1 January 1969 Decommissioned 11 May 1971 Struck from Naval Register 1 January 1977 Sunk 1988 as an artificial reef 6 miles off Stuart, Fl

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 Rankin AKA-103 / LKA-103 Covers Page 1    (1945-1971)

 

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

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1st Commissioning 25 February 1945 to 21 May 1947

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-08-15

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-09-08

As AKA-103

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2nd Commissioning 22 March 1952 to 11 May 1971

 

Locy Type FDPS 2r

1952-04-09

AKA-103. First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type 2r

1964-05-16

AKA-103. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type P [[2(n+) (USS) (AKA-first "A" removed)]]

1969-05-30

AKA-103. Port Visit of HMCS Ottawa DDH-229, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

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

1971-01-23

LKA-103. Decommissioning of USS FORT MANDAN LSD-21, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type 9efu

1964-05-16

AKA-103. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Other Information

USS RANKIN earned the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon (2 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 1 Battle star), the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal (w/ Asia clasp), the National Defense Service Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2 awards) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - A county in the state of Mississippi.

 

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