WEST VIRGINIA BB 48

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.

Colorado Class Battleship
Keel Laid April 12 1920 - Launched November 17 1921


1. USS WEST VIRGINIA BB-48
   Commissioned December 1 1923
   SUNK (Aerial Torpedoes) December 7 1941
   Raised and repaired 1942-44
   Decommissioned January 9 1947
   
   Struck from Naval Register March 1 1959
   Sold August 24 1959 to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. of New York City 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. USS West Virginia BB-48 Cover Page 1    (1925-37)
2. USS West Virginia BB-48 Cover Page 2    (1938-45)

 

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

 

Locy Type 2az

1943-08-06 to 1943-08-12

Mark from back of cover

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-BBB) "BREMERTON / WASH."

1936-09-10

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-BBB) "SAN PEDRO / CALIFORNIA"

1938-10-12

Columbus Day 1938

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-11-18

Note:
 

Locy Type 3z

1942-07-30

Struck while under repair at Pearl Harbor

 

Locy Type 5hks "INDEPENDENCE / DAY"

1932-07-04

Note:

 

Locy Type 5hks "SAN PEDRO / CALIFORNIA"

1933-04-23

Official Mail from Vice Admiral David F. Sellers

 

Locy Type 5hks "SAN PEDRO / CALIFORNIA"

1933-05-14

Notes:
 

Locy Type 6

1932-07-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 6

1935-12-27

Note:

 

Locy Type 6 (AT SEA)

1930-10-04

Note:

 

Locy Type 7

1927-06-27

Note:
 

Locy Type 7

1928-03-21

Note:

 

Locy Type 7qt(2)

1935-05-28

Note: Year is upside down in the postmark.

 

Locy Type 7qt(2)

1941-09-09

Note:

 

Locy Type 7qt(2)

1941-11-03

Note:

 

Locy Type 7z*

1945-01-20

With Naval Hospital Auxiliary Marking

 

Locy Type 9v

1926-04-11

Note:

 

Locy Type F "TOKYO BAY" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-20e

1945-09-02

Tokyo Bay strike

 

Locy Type P "NAVY DAY / SAN DIEGO / CALIF." USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-20

1945-10-27

Note:

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-20c

1945-09-04

Note:

 

Locy Type PPO USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. W-20d

1927-05-21

Note:

 

Other Information

WEST VIRGINIA earned 5 Battle Stars for WWII service

WEST VIRGINIA was at Pearl Harbor December 7 1941

WEST VIRGINIA was at Tokyo Bay September 2 1945 for the Japanese surrender

NAMESAKE - Named for The State of West Virginia

 

---

 

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.

 

---

Copyright 2023 Naval Cover Museum