MELVILLE AD 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.

Melville Class Destroyer Tender
Keel Laid November 11 1913 - Launched March 2 1913


1. USS MELVILLE Destroyer Tender No. 2
Commissioned December 3 1915


2. USS MELVILLE AD-2
Designated (AD) July 17 1920
Decommissioned August 9 1946

Struck from Naval Register April 23 1947
Turned over to Maritime Commission March 30 1948 for disposal
Sold August 19 1948 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. USS Melville AD-2 Covers Page 1    (1918-46)

 

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

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Post Office Established January 1 1916 - Disestablished July 18 1946

 

Locy Type 1z

1918-09-16

Censored, World War I use. From the Tom Kean collection. Go to the Ships Cover Page to see the enclosed letter.

 

Locy Type 2

1919-03-24

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (A) "&SQUADRON / ELEVEN"

1928-04-16

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (B-TBB)

1937-07-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BTT) "25 YEARS / OF SERVICE"

1940-12-03

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1946-05-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

1941-08-14

R/S ship's address on front of the cover.

 

Locy Type 7dr

1941-02-28

Official Business (Stricken) - Officer's Mail

 

Locy Type 7drz

1941-05-28

Manuscript ship's name on back of cover.

 

Locy Type 8

1934-06-14

Flag Day. Cachet by "Teddy" Roosevelt Chapter No. 13, USCS

 

Locy Type 9efu

1946-05-08

Cachet by George V. Sadworth

 

Locy Type 9v (1917)

1917-12-09

Censored, registered mail going to the USS Huntington CA-5

 

Locy Type 9v (1940)

1942-12-17

Official, registered mail going to the USS Vulcan AR 5

 

Locy Type 9v

1942-12-17

Official, registered mail going to the USS Vulcan AR 5

 

Locy Type 9x

1946-05-08

Cachet by George V. Sadworth

 

Locy Type 9vz

1918-03-25 to 1918-04-07

Mark from back of cover

 

Locy Type P (9x with "Parcel Post" removed)

1930-12-13

Note:

 

Other Information

USS MELVILLE earned the World War I Victory Medal (with Mobile Base Clasp), the American Defense Service Medal (with Sea Clasp), the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville, USN (January 10 1841 - March 17 1912)
   Melville was an Officer in The United States Navy during The American Civil War. Melville volunteered for duty as Chief Engineer of TIGRESS in 1873 for her rescue in Baffin Bay of 19 survivors of the Polaris expedition to the Arctic. He also volunteered to join the Jeannette expedition, departing San Francisco, Calif., August 7 1879 to seek an ocean passage to the Atlantic by way of Siberia. Jeannette became icebound in September and, after 2 years of effort to save her, was crushed by floes in the Laptev Sea and sank June 12 1881. Melville led the only boat party to reach safety in Lena Delta, Siberia. He then returned north to find the frozen bodies of Jeannette’s commanding officer, Lt. George W. Delong, and his party lost in July. Congress rewarded Melville for his gallantry and resourcefulness by advancing him 15 numbers on the promotion list and awarding him a medal. Melville superintended the design of 120 ships of the “New Navy” and introduced such widely acclaimed innovations, as the water tube boiler, vertical engines, and the repair ship.

 

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