SAIPAN LHA 2

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.

Tarawa Class Amphibious Assault Ship Keel Laid 21 July 1972 - Launched 18 July 1974 Christened 20 July 1974 USS SAIPAN LHA-2 Commissioned 15 October 1977 Decommissioning Ceremony 20 April 2007 Decommissioned 25 April 2007 Stricken by NVR 25 April 2007 Scrapped 23 February 2011

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. USS Saipan LHA-2 Covers Page 1     (1981-92)

 

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

 

Locy Type FDC 2-1(n+) (USS)

1977-10-15

Commissioning

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS)

1981-08-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (D1,USS)

1991-10-15

Cachet by Gary R. Rogak

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (A,D2,USS)

1992-08-17

Cachet by Richard H. Hall

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (B,USS)

1991-12-25

Cachet by Gary R. Rogak

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (A,USS)

1995-10-27

Cachet by Gary R. Rogak

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u) (USS)

1981-08-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 11-2n+ (USS, FPO AE 09549-1605)

2004-12-08

From the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type 12-2n+ (USS, FPO AE 09549-1605)

2004-12-08

From the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type Meter OFR2 (#520289) ZIP 09549

1993-09-02

N/A

On Piece

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USPS Pictorial Postmark

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Decommissioning Station" Norfolk, VA

2007-04-20

Decommissioning, cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

USS SAIPAN earned the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy Meritorious Unit Citation Ribbon, the Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (5 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Armed Forces Service Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named after the Battle of Saipan, one of the Northern Mariana Islands that was a scene of heavy fighting in World War II.

Two ships of the US Navy have borne the name SAIPAN - USS Saipan CVL-48 and USS Saipan LHA-2.

 

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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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