SAN FRANCISCO CM 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.

San Francisco Class Protected Cruiser
Keel Laid 14 August 1888 - Launched 26 October 1889


1. USS SAN FRANCISCO Protected Cruiser No. 5
Commissioned 15 November 1890 - Decommissioned 25 October 1898
Recommissioned 2 January 1902 - Decommissioned 31 December 1904
Converted to Mine Layer June 1908


2. USS SAN FRANCISCO Mine Layer No. 2
Recommissioned 29 November 1911 - Decommissioned 6 June 1916
Recommissioned 18 October 1916


3. USS SAN FRANCISCO CM-2
Designated (CM) 17 July 1920
Decommissioned 24 December 1921


4. USS TAHOE CM-2
Renamed while in reserve

5. USS YOSEMITE CM-2
Renamed 1 January 1931 while in reserve

Struck from Naval Register 8 June 1937
Sold 20 April 1939 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 San Francisco Covers Page 1    (1895-1915,2003)

 

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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1st Commissioning 15 November 1890 to 25 October 1898

 

Ohio CDS Montevideo, Uruguay CDS Washington D.C. duplex

1892-12-31

Incoming mail to USS SAN FRANCISCO at Montevideo, Uruguay...Forwarded to Norfolk
Back stamped Montevideo February 8 1893...Rio De Janeiro, Brazil February 13...
New York January 3...Washington D.C. March 7...New York March 17...Norfolk March 19

 

Portsmouth N.H. duplex Charing Cross Station U.S. Consul London

1895-06-16

Incoming mail to Paymaster Joseph Foster at London, forward to Kiel, Germany
Back stamped New York June 7...London June 17...Kiel June 18

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3rd Commissioning 29 November 1911 to 6 June 1916

 

Locy Type 2

1912-06-25

Mine Layer No. 2. From the Jim Myerson collection.

 

Locy Type 3 (AC) "PORTSMOUTH / NEW HAMPS" (1913)

1914-07-28

Mine Layer No. 2. From the Jim Myerson collection.

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4th Commissioning 18 October 1916 to 24 December 1921

 

Locy Type 3 (AC) (1917)

1917-01-16

CM-2. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 3s (AC)

1920-11-16

CM-2.

 

Locy Type 9v (C)

1917-02-09

CM-2. From the Jim Myerson collection.

 

Other Information

USS SAN FRANCISCO earned the Navy Expeditionary Medal (4 awards), the Spanish Campaign Medal, the Mexican Service Medal and the World War I Victory Medal w/ Mine Layer Clasp during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of San Francisco, CA.

The ships sponsor was Miss Edith W. Benham, daughter of Commodore Andrew E. K. Benham, Commandant, Mare Island, CA, Navy Yard.

Three ships of the US Navy have borne the name SAN FRANCISCO - USS San Francisco Cruiser No. 5, USS San Francisco CA-38 and USS San Francisco SSN-711.

 

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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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