BONHOMME RICHARD LHD 6

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.

Wasp Class Amphibious Assault Ship (Multi-Purpose) Keel Laid 18 April 1995 - Launched 14 March 1997 Christened 17 May 1997 USS BONHOMME RICHARD LHD-6 Commissioned 15 August 1998 While in for maintenance, a huge fire breaks out 12 July 2020 After massive efforts, all fires are out 16 July 2020 US Navy decides to scrap the ship 30 November 2020 Decommissioning Ceremony 14 April 2021

 

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 Bonhomme Richard LHD-6 Covers Page 1     (1995-2021)

 

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 Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

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Ships Postmarks

 

Locy Type FDC 2-2t(n+) (USS, FPO AP 96617-1656)

1998-08-15

Commissioning, cachet by USS Los Angeles Chapter No. 97, USCS

 

Locy Type 2-2t(n+) (USS, FPO AP 96617-1656)

1999-03-29

Ships cachet, from the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type 9-2(n+) (USS, FPO AP 96617-1656)

1999-03-29

Ships cachet, from the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type 11-2n (USS,FPO AP 96617-1656)

2011-09-12

Courtesy of the USCS Postmark Survey 2011-2012

 

Locy Type 11-2(n+) (BONHOMME / RICHARD) (USS,FPO AP 96617)

2018-10-17

Cachet by Thad Kaczkowski

 

Locy Type 12n+(USS)

2011-09-12

Courtesy of the USCS Postmark Survey 2011-2012

 

Locy Type F FPO AP 96617-1656

2006-04-24

100th Anniversary Memorial Service for Commodore John Paul Jones, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type F FPO AP 96617-1656

2008-07-01

100th Anniversary of the Great White Fleet. Ship's cachet, serviced by Wolfgang Hechler

 

Locy Type F Unit 100184 FPO AP 96617

2015-08-24

Official Ships Cachet. "This postmark reflects the change in the Naval Postal System and until more postmark examples are seen, they will be classified as Type F." Greg C. - 2015

 

Locy Type F Unit 100184 FPO AP 96617

2017-07-04

Official Ships Cachet. Collectors request by Mike Brock

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Ships Miscellaneous Marking

 

Locy Type F FPO AP 96669-1271 USS John Paul Jones DDG-53

1997-05-17

Christening of Bonhomme Richard, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Directory Marking

2010-01-06

Note:

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USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Launch Day Station" Pascagoula, MS

1997-03-14

Launching, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Christening Day Station" Pascagoula, MS

1997-05-17

Christening, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

USS BONHOMME RICHARD LHD-6 has earned the following awards in her Naval career: Navy Unit Citation Ribbon; Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon; Navy Battle "E" Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal; Humanitarian Service Medal and the Global War On Terrorism Expeditionary Medal w/ 1 star. (As of 2015)

NAMESAKE - Named in Honor of of John Paul Jones' famous frigate, which he had named the French language equivalent of "Goodman Richard," in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the U.S. Ambassador to France at the time.

There has been four ships of the US Navy that have borne the name BONHOMME RICHARD - USS Bonhomme Richard (1766 ex Duc de Duras), USS Bon Homme Richard CV-10,
USS Bon Homme Richard CVA-31 and USS Bonhomme Richard LHD-6.

Bonhomme Richard is the correct name in French.

 

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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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