VELLA GULF CVE 111

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.

Commenencement Bay Class Escort Carrier
Keel Laid February 7 1944 as TOTEM BAY
Renamed April 26 1944
Launched October 19 1944


1. USS VELLA GULF CVE-111
   Commissioned April 9 1945 - Decommissioned August 9 1946
   Reclassified Escort Helicopter Carrier (CVHE) June 12 1955, While in reserve
   Reclassified Cargo Ship and Aircraft Ferry AKV-11 May 7 1959, While in reserve
   
   Struck from Naval Register June 1 1960
   Reinstated to Naval Register November 1 1960
   Transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service
   Redesignated T-AKV-11, While in reserve
   
   Struck from Naval Register December 1 1970
   Sold October 22 1971 to American Ship Dismantlers, Inc., of Portland, Oreg. 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. Covers Page 1    (1945-46,1993)

 

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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Post Office Established April 1 1945 - Disestablished April 12 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-01-29

Note:

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #15727)

1945-10-19

Note:

 

Locy Type LDPS 2(n) Apr 12, 1946

1946-04-12

Last Day Postal Service

 

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.

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

 

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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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