BEALE DD 471

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.

Fletcher Class Destroyer Keel Laid December 19 1941 - Launched August 24 1942 USS BEALE DD-471 Commissioned December 23 1942 - Decommissioned April 11 1946 USS BEALE DDE-471 Reclassified Escort Destroyer (DDE) January 2 1951 Recommissioned January 2 1951 USS BEALE DD-471 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) June 30 1962 Decommissioned September 20 1968 Struck from Naval Register October 1 1968 Sunk June 24 1969 as target off Virginia

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 name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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 Beale Covers Page 1     (1943-68)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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 January 15 1943 - Disestablished January 31 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-01-01

As DD-471
Cachet by B. Saunders Bullard

 

Locy Type 3z

1943

As DD-471
Official Business.

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Post Office Reestablished December 18 1951 - Disestablished September 23 1968

 

Locy Type FDPS 2r Dec 18, 1951

1951-12-18

As DDE-471
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9efu

1951-12-18

As DDE-471
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2r

1958-07-25

As DDE-471
Crossing the Equator, cachet by Raymond W. Milling.

 

Locy Type 9efu

1958-07-25

As DDE-471
Crossing the Equator, cachet by Raymond W. Milling.

 

Locy Type P [2(n) with "E" removed, but center cross bar left as a hyphen]

1966-02-19

As DD-471
Cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type LDPS P Sep 23, 1968

1968-09-23

As DD-471
Last Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type LDPS 9efu

1968-09-23

As DD-471
Last Day Postal Service
Unlisted in USCS Postmark Catalog.

 

Other Information

BEALE earned 6 Battle Stars for World War II service

NAMESAKE - Edward Fitzgerald Beale (February 4 1822 - April 22 1893)
Beale was appointed to the Naval School at Philadelphia on December 14 1836, and received his Warrant as a Passed Midshipman on July 1 1842. In July 1846, while he was serving in the frigate CONGRESS in California waters, war between the United States and Mexico erupted. Beale went ashore at recently captured San Diego as part of a small force sent to guide Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny's 1st Dragoons to that port. The two forces succeeded in the rendezvous; but, on the return trip, fought sharp battles on December 7 and 8 and ended up surrounded by a larger Mexican force. Beale and Kit Carson volunteered to slip through the Mexican lines to summon help from the San Diego garrison. Beale reached San Diego 27 hours later, and Carson came in the following morning. A relief column of 200 men went out, rescued Kearny's force, and escorted it back to San Diego. In February 1847, Beale, in company with Kit Carson and a small troop, set out overland across the North American continent and delivered his dispatches to Washington in June of that year. In 1848 and 1849, he made six journeys between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Promoted to Master on August 1 1849 and to Lieutenant on February 28 1850, Beale resigned on March 5 1852 to accept an appointment as superintendent of Indian Affairs for California and Nevada. In the ensuing years, he conducted a number of surveys of railroad and wagon routes in the far west. He became Surveyor General of California in 1861 and at the end of the Civil War, retired to his ranch near the present day site of Bakersfield, Calif. In 1876, President Grant appointed him minister to the Austro Hungarian Empire; and, after holding that office for about a year, Beale returned to retirement. Edward Beale died in Washington on April 22 1893

 

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