WILHOITE DER 397

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.

Edsall Class Destroyer Escort Keel Laid August 4 1943 - Launched October 5 1943 USS WILHOITE DE-397 Commissioned December 16 1943 - Decommissioned June 19 1946 Reclassified Radar Pickett Escort (DER) September 2 1954 USS WILHOITE DER-397 Recommissioned January 29 1955 - Decommissioned July 2 1969 Struck from Naval Register July 2 1969 Sold July 19 1972 to General Metals Corp., Tacoma, Wash 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. Wilhoite Covers Page 1    (1945-67)

 

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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1st Commissioning December 16 1943 to June 19 1946

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #16027)

1945-09-21

As DE-397

 

Locy Type 9# 16027 Branch

1946-01-29

As DE-397. The postmark was applied to the back of the cover.

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2nd Commissioning January 29 1955 to July 2 1969

 

Locy Type 2r

1965-02-08

As DER-397

 

Locy Type 2r

1967-04-04

As DER-397

 

Locy Type 9efu

1967-04-04

As DER-397

 

Other Information

WILHOITE earned the Presidential Unit Citation, 1 Battle Star for WWII, and 6 battle stars for Vietnam service

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - Presidential Unit Citation - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ star - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Antarctic Service Ribbon - Viet Nam Service Medal w/ 6 stars - Republic of Viet Nam Campaign Medal

NAMESAKE - Ensign Thomas Mack Wilhoite, USN (February 12 1921 - November 8 1942).
Ensign Wilhoite was a Naval Aviator flying Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats from USS RANGER CV-4 and was killed in action during "Operation Torch", the invasion of French North Africa. Ensign Wilhoite was posthumously awarded The Silver Star for displaying "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" during the strikes at Rabat-Sale and Port Lyautey. The accompanying citation also cited Wilhoite's "superb airmanship and tenacious devotion to duty" in pressing home his stafing attacks. Although he was killed in action, Wilhoite had played his part in the significant operations of VF-9 in neutralizing Vichy French air power that, if unhindered, could have severely hampered Operation "Torch."

 

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