HIGBEE DD 806

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.

Gearing Class Destroyer Keel Laid June 26 1944 - Launched November 12 1944 USS HIGBEE DD-806 Commissioned January 27 1945 USS HIGBEE DDR-806 Reclassified Radar Picket Destroyer (DDR) March 18 1949 USS HIGBEE DD-806 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) July 1 1963 Decommissioned July 15 1979 Struck from Naval Register July 15 1979 Sunk as target April 24 1986 32° 28' 0.4" North, 119° 58' 0.7" West

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. Higbee Covers Page 1    (1944-77)

 

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

 

USPO Machine Cancel Bath ME

1944-11-12

No Image

Launching

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Locy Type 2(n) 1945-55

1948-06-21

As DD-806

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DDR)

1956-01-21

As DDR-806

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1973-08-10

As DD-806
Ship's seal embossed

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1976-08-03

As DD-806

 

Locy Type 2z*

1945-09-02

As DD-806
Censored wartime (WWII) use - Tokyo Bay

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu)

1948-06-21

As DD-806

 

Locy Type 9ef(n+u) (DD,USS)

1977-02-26

As DD-806

 

Other Information

HIGBEE earned 1 battle star for her service in World War II and 7 battle stars for her service in the Korean War.

NAMESAKE - Chief Nurse Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee, USN (May 18 1874 – January 10, 1941).
She was born Lenah H. Sutcliffe in Chatham, New Brunswick, on 18 May 1874. She completed nurses' training at the New York Postgraduate Hospital in 1899 and entered private practice soon thereafter. In October 1908, she joined the newly-established U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as one of its first twenty members. These nurses, who came to be called "The Sacred Twenty", were the first women to formally serve as members of the Navy. She was promoted to Chief Nurse in 1909.
In January 1911, Mrs. Higbee (she was the widow of Lieutenant Colonel John Henley Higbee, USMC) became the second Superintendent of the Nurse Corps. For her achievements in leading the Corps through the First World War, Chief Nurse Higbee was awarded the Navy Cross, the first living woman to receive that medal. She retired from the Navy in November 1922. Chief Nurse Lenah H. Higbee died at Winter Park, Florida, on January 10 1941.
USS Higbee (DD-806), commissioned in 1945, was named in her honor, the first U.S. Navy combat ship to bear the name of a female member of the Naval service.

 

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