VELLA GULF CG 72

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.

USS VELLA GULF CG-72
Commissioned (Special) 29 August 1993 for delivery
Commissioned 18 September 1993 - Decommissioned 4 August 2022

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.

USS Vella Gulf CG-72 Covers Page 1 (1993-2018)

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 Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

Post Office Established July 12 1993

Locy Type
FDC 2-2t (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

1993-09-18

First Day in Commission, cachet by USS North Carolina Chapter No. 99, USCS

Locy Type
2-2t (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

1993-08-05

50th Anniversary of the Battle of Vella Gulf.

Locy Type
9-2 (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

1993-08-06

50th Anniversary of the Battle of Vella Gulf.

Locy Type
11-2n+ (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

2004-08-20

Ships cachet, from the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

Locy Type
11-2(n+) (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

2018-06-12

Cachet by Thad Kaczkowski.

Locy Type
11-2a(n+) (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

2018-06-12

From the back of the cacheted cover by Thad Kaczkowski.

Locy Type
11-2(n+)y (USS,
FPO AE 09590)
(Unit 100282)

2018-09-18

25th Anniversary of Commissioning. Cachet by Dennis W. Gill.

Locy Type
12-2n+ (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

2004-08-20

Ships cachet, from the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

Locy Type
12-2n (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

2011-09-14

USCS Postmark Survey

Locy Type
13-2n (USS,
FPO AE 09590-1192)

2009-07-23

Official Ship's Cachet

Other Information

NAMESAKE - The Battle of Vella Gulf was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of August 6, 1943 – August 7, 1943, in Vella Gulf between Vella Lavella Island and Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific.

The ships sponsor was Mary A. McCauley, wife of Vice Admiral William F. McCauley (Ret.).

Two ships of the US Navy have been named VELLA GULF - USS Vella Gulf CVE-111 and USS Vella Gulf CG-72.

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.