COWPENS CVL 25

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.

Cleveland Class Light Cruiser
Keel Laid November 17 1941 as HUNTINGTON CL-77
Reordered as Aircraft Carrier March 27 1942 redesignated CV-25
Renamed March 31 1942
Launched January 17 1943


1. USS COWPENS CV-25
   Commissioned May 28 1943
   
   
2. USS COWPENS CVL-25
   Redesignated Light Aircraft Carrier (CVL) July 15 1943
   Placed In Commission in Reserve December 3 1946
   Decommissioned January 13 1947
   Reclassified Aircraft Transport (AVT) May 15 1959, While in reserve
   
   Struck from Naval Register November 1 1959
   Sold 1960 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    (1943-44)

 

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 May 5 1943 - Disestablished March 18 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n) Oct 27, 1945

1945-10-27

As CVL-25
"Victory Cancel"

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1945-12-15

As CVL-25

 

Locy Type 2z*

1943-06-23

As CV-25

 

Locy Type 2z*

1944-02-27

As CVL-25
Censored sailor's mail

 

Locy Type Pz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. C-82

1945-09-02

As CVL-25
Sailor's mail from Tokyo Bay.

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USPS Pictorial "Mighty Moo Festival Station" Cowpens SC

1996-06-13

USS Cowpens Reunion

 

Locy Type F USS Cowpens CG-63

2008-05-28

No Image

The cachet honors the 65th Anniversary of Commissioning of USS Cowpens CV-25, cachet by Dan Goodwin

 

Other Information

COWPENS earned 12 Battle Stars and a Navy Unit Commendation for her World War II service.

COWPENS CVL-25 was at Tokyo Bay September 2 1945 for the Japanese surrender

NAMESAKE - The Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina (January 17 1781). The battle was an overwhelming victory by American revolutionary forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.

Two ships of the US Navy have been named COWPENS - USS Cowpens CVL-25 (The Mighty Moo) and USS Cowpens CG-63 (The Thundering Herd).

 

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