WEST POINT AP 23

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.

West Point Class Transport Keel Laid 22 August 1938 - Launched 31 August 1939 as SS AMERICA Entered service for The United States Lines 10 August 1940 Acquired by US Navy 1 June 1941 USS WEST POINT AP-23 Commissioned 16 June 1941 - Decommissioned 28 February 1946 Transferred to Maritime Commission 28 February 1946 Struck from Naval Register 12 March 1946 Re-acquired by United States Line original name SS AMERICA restored Sold to Chandris Shipping Line October 1964 and renamed SS AUSTRALIS Sold to Venture Cruise Lines 1978 name restored to SS AMERICA Sold to Chandris Shipping Line 1978 and renamed SS ITALIS Sold to Silver Moon Ferries Ltd. and renamed SS ALFREDOSS Sold to Chaophraya Transport Co. 1992 and renamed SS AMERICAN STAR While under tow she grounded and was destroyed January 1994 at Fuertventura Canary Islands

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. SS America Covers Page 1     (1940-1941)
2. USS West Point AP-23 Covers Page 1     (1941-1946)

 

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

S.S. AMERICA

 

US Seapost Machine Cancel "SS AMERICA" Puerto Rico

1940-08-14

N/A

First Voyage of S.S. AMERICA

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USS WEST POINT AP-23

Post Office Established 8 August 1941 - Disestablished 12 February 1946

 

Locy Type FDPS 3z "FIRST DAY / COVER"

1941-08-08

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

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 (A-BBT) "FIRST DAY / COVER"

1941-08-08

First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-08-11

Note:

 

Locy Type 3z (BTB)

c1944

Note:

 

Locy Type 9x

1941-08-21

Note:

 

Locy Type LDPS 2z

1946-02-28

Last Day of Postal service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson.

 

Other Information

USS WEST POINT earned the American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - A military post in New York state, located on the west bank of the Hudson River below Poughkeepsie. West Point is the site of the United States Military Academy.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wife of the President of the United States.

Two ships of the US Navy have borne the name WEST POINT - USS West Point ID-3254 and USS West Point AP-23.

 

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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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