RESCUE AH 18

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.

SS SAINT JOHN

USS ANTAEUS AS-21
Commissioned May 17 1941
USS ANTAEUS AG-67
Redesignated Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) September 15 1943
USS RESCUE AH-18
Converted to Hospital Ship (AH) and renamed January 18 1945
Decommissioned April 29 1946

Struck from Naval Register August 15 1946
Transferred to Maritime Commission for disposal June 29 1946

Scrapped 1959

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.

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

USS ANTAEUS

Post Office Established August 1 1941 - Disestablished April 1 1946

Locy Type
FDPS 3 (A-OTO)

"FIRST DAY /
CANCELATION"

(incorrect spelling)

1941-07-24

ANTAEUS AS-21. Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

Locy Type 2z

1943-11-06

ANTAEUS AG-67

Locy Type
3z (BBT)

1941-09-25

ANTAEUS AS-21. Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

Locy Type
9v

1941-08-08

ANTAEUS AS-21. Registered, Official Mail - MAILGRAM. Cover from USS S-44 SS-155.

USS RESCUE

Locy Type 2z

1945-05-28

RESCUE AH-18. Censored, WWII use

Locy Type 9#

(Br. #15522)

1945-07-15

RESCUE AH-18. Marking from back of cover

Locy Type F

USCS Postmark
Catalog Illus. R-11

1946-01-01

The ship's return address handstamp designates the ship as APH-18. A New Year's Day cover.

Locy Type
LDPS F

1946-03-28

RESCUE AH-18. Last Day of Postal Service.

Other Information

ANTAEUS
NAMESAKE - The son of Neptune, the god of the sea in Roman mythology

RESCUE

USS RESCUE earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the American Defense Service Medal with Fleet clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 2 Battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal and the Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - To save someone from danger or peril.

If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.