MERCURY AKS 20
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 MERCURY AK-42
Commissioned July 1 1942
- USS MERCURY AKS-20
Redesignated General Stores Issue Ship (AKS) July 31 1945
Decommissioned May 28 1959
Struck from Naval Register August 1 1959
Transferred to Maritime Administration (MARAD) April 5 1960
Scrapped 1975
Mercury Class Cargo Ship
Keel Laid as LIGHTNING
Launched July 15 1939
Placed in operation October 30 1940 as MORMACTERN
Acquired by U.S. Navy June 20 1941 and converted for Naval service
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.
- Mercury Covers Page 1 (1945-56)
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 |
Date From to Date To |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
|
Locy Type |
1946-02-19
|
 |
 |
As AKS-20
|
Locy Type |
1948-03-26
|
 |
 |
As AKS-20
Post Office Established May 16 1949 to March 18 1959
|
Locy Type |
1950-05-20
|
 |
 |
As AKS-20
Armed Forces Day, cachet by Pentagon Philatelic Society
|
Locy Type |
1956-12-12
|
 |
 |
As AKS-20
Other Information
MERCURY earned the following awards during her Naval career - Combat Action Ribbon - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 5 Battle stars) - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3).
NAMESAKE - A Roman god represented with winged feet who served as messenger for the other gods; a silver‑white metal which is liquid at ordinary temperatures; the planet nearest to the Sun.
There have been five ships in the US Navy named MERCURY - USS Mercury (Ketch 1776), USS Mercury (Schooner 1781), USS Mercury (Revenue Cutter 1807), USS Mercury SP‑3012 and USS Mercury AKS-20.
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 2024 Naval Cover Museum