McFARLAND DD 237

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.

Clemson Class Destroyer
Keel Laid 31 July 1918 - Launched 30 March 1920


1. USS McFARLAND DD-237
Commissioned 30 September 1920 - Decommissioned 30 January 1931
Recommissioned 13 June 1932 - Decommissioned 10 May 1935


2. USS McFARLAND AVD-14
Reclassified Sea Plane Tender-Destroyer (AVD) 2 August 1940 while in reserve
Recommissioned 5 October 1940


3. USS McFARLAND DD-237
Reverted to Destroyer (DD) 1 December 1943
Planed conversion to High-speed Transport APD-26 Cancelled 10 July 1944
Decommissioned 8 November 1945

Struck from Naval Register 19 December 1945
Sold 29 October 1946 and broken up 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 McFarland DD-237 / AVD-14 Covers Page 1    (1924-1942)

 

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 21 June 1923 - Disestablished 30 January 1931

 

Locy Type 3 (A)

1924-02-24

DD-237. Picture postcard, Madison Square Garden NYC

 

Locy Type 3s (B) "PANAMA / C.Z."

1929-01-22

DD-237. Sailors mail. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 5s "GUANTANAMO / BAY, CUBA"

1930-03-02

DD-237.

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Post Office Reestablished 1932 - Disestablished 10 May 1935

 

Locy Type FDC 5hks "RECOMM / TO DAY"

1932-06-13

DD-237. First Day of Commission

 

Locy Type 3s (A-BTT) "NEWPORT / R.I."

1934-09-24

DD-237. Reused Official Business enveloped used for Sailor's Mail.

 

Locy Type 5hks "NUEVA GERONA / CUBA"

1934-01-03

DD-237. Welcome to Cuba, cachet by R.L. Razzette

 

Locy Type LDPS F "LAST DAY / IN SERVICE" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. CD-1a

1935-05-10

DD-237. Last Day in Commissioning. Signed by NMC D.V. Wiltsey, backstamp "Mare Island Station" Vallejo CA dated May 11 1935

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Post Office Established 25 January 1941 - Disestablished 30 October 1945

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 (A-BTT)

1941-06-03

AVD-14. First Day of Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9v

1941-06-03

AVD-14. First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type FDPS 9x

1941-06-03

AVD-14. First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BTT)

1941-10-27

AVD-14. Navy Day, cachet by George Neumann.

 

Locy Type Fz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-22

1942-04-07

AVD-14.

 

Other Information

USS McFARLAND earned the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 2 battle stars and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Seaman John C. McFarland (1840–1881)
Seaman John McFarland, USN, entered the Navy at Boston, Mass., 24 December 1861 as seaman on USS Ohio, later transferring to USS Hartford in the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. Rated captain of the forecastle, he had the station at the wheel in every engagement in which USS Hartford participated. During the Battle of Mobile Bay 4 and 5 August 1864. McFarland left his sickbed to take up station, keeping the wheel of Admiral Farragut's flagship throughout the storm of shell and shot. He was commended by his commanding officers for his fortitude and intelligence and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallant and meritorious service. The circumstances and date of his death are unknown.

The ships sponsor was Miss Louisa Hughes.

 

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