HARKNESS MHC 12

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.

Coastal Minehunter
Keel Laid June 1 1942 - Launched October 10 1942


1. USS YMS-242
   Commissioned March 27 1943
   
   
2. USS AGS-12
   Converted to Survey Ship (AGS) March 20 1945
   
   
3. USS HARKNESS AGS-12
   Named March 24 1945
   
   
4. USS HARKNESS AGSC-12
   Reclassified Coastal Survey Ship (AGSC) July 29 1946
   Decommissioned September 22 1950
   Converted to Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) (AMCU) August 18 1951, While in reserve
   
   
5. USS HARKNESS AMCU-12
   Recommissioned September 5 1951
   
   
6. USS HARKNESS MHC-12
   Reclassified Coastal Minehunter (MHC) February 1 1955
   Decommissioned April 2 1958
   
   Struck from Naval Register November 1 1959
   Sold at public auction 1960
   
   Fate unknown

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. YMS-242 Covers Page 1     (1943)
2. HARKNESS AGSC-12 Covers Page 1     (1946-57)

 

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	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type 2z

1946-12-18

As AGSC-12. The return address stamp still had the earlier designation. The ship had no postal facilities.

 

Other Information

HARKNESS received 1 battle star for World War II service

NAMESAKE - William Harkness (December 17 1837 - February 28 1903)
Harkness served as a volunteer surgeon in the Union Navy during the first year of the Civil War. However, during most of his naval career, he served as an astronomer to be eventually recognized as an expert in that profession. He was associated with the U.S. Naval Observatory from 1862 to 1899, the last 5 years of which as director. Then in 1897 he was appointed director of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Retired 17 December 1899, Rear Admiral Harkness died in Jersey City, N.J.

 

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