VAN VALKENBURGH DD 656

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.

Fletcher Class Destroyer Keel Laid November 15 1942 - Launched December 19 1943 USS VAN VALKENBURGH DD-656 Commissioned August 2 1944 - Decommissioned April 15 1946 Recommissioned March 8 1951 - Decommissioned October 21 1953 Stricken from Naval Register February 1 1973 TCG IZMIR D-341 (Turkish Naval Service) Sold to Turkey February 28 1967 Stricken by Turkey 1987 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.

1. Cover Page 1    (1945-52)

 

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 Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Commissioning August 2 1944 to April 12 1946

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-08-06

Censored Sailor's Mail. Postmarked the day of the Hiroshima bombing.

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-12-06

Notes:

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2nd Commissioning March 8 1951 to February 26 1954

 

Locy Type FDR 2

1951-03-08

First Day Recommissioning

 

Locy Type 2

1951-08-09

Notes:

 

Locy Type 2

1952-04-15

Notes:

 

Locy Type 9efu

No date (1953-10-06)

Note:

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Foreign Service TCG IZMIR D 341

 

Locy Type 2(n) (USS) USS VERMILION AKA-107

1967-03-19

"Welcome to Norfolk" TCG IZMIR D 341 (ex Van Valkenburgh), cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Other Information

VAN VALKENBURGH earned the Navy Unit Commendation and 3 Battle Stars for WWII service, and one Battle Star for Korea

NAMESAKE - Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh USN (April 5 1888 – December 7 1941)
Van Valkenburgh was the Commanding Officer of USS ARIZONA BB-39 and was killed during the Pearl Harbor attack

 

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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.

 

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