FORREST SHERMAN DD 931

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.

Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer Keel Laid 27 October 1953 - Launched 5 February 1955 USS FORREST SHERMAN DD-931 Commissioned 9 November 1955 - Decommissioned 5 November 1982 Struck from Naval Register 27 July 1990 On 20 June 2006 custody was awarded to the Forrest Sherman Museum, Inc., Havre De Grace, MD. As of October 3, 2013 - The total cost of the restoration/museum project would have been in excess of $20 mil, and in today’s economy raising that amount of money would have been impossible. So, we entered into an agreement with the Navy that they could scrap the ship, but they had to turn over to us parts of the ship to build a memorial. They agreed to give us the stern plating that says FORREST SHERMAN and the numerals 931. In addition they agreed to give us all the historic items removed from the ship by the Navy’s curators. We also had collected over 100 items of memorabilia that crew members had removed from the ship over the years. All those items, including the ship’s bell, have been transferred to The Maine Maritime Museum to become a part of their Sherman collection. The Museum is right next door to Bath Iron Works where the ship was built. We are waiting for the Navy to scrap the ship so that we can get the hull pieces. The ship is still in the old Philadelphia Navy Yard. It appears that the Navy doesn’t have the funds to scrap any ships at this point. As of May 2015 - Ship removed 18 May and towed by M/V Crosby Cruiser bound for ESCO, Brownsville, TX. Arrived 23 May 2015.

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 Forrest Sherman DD-931 Covers Page 1    (1956-1982)

 

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

 

Locy Type FDC 9fu

1955-11-09

Commissioning

 

Locy Type 2

1956-05-19

Pencil strengthened

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1967-11-08

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS omitted)

1981-12-25

Christmas, Official Ship's Cachet.

 

Locy Type 9ef(n+u) (USS, N.Y.)

1967-11-08

Note:

 

Locy Type 9eft(n+) (NEW YORK, NY at bottom)

1970-12-30

Note:

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USPS Slogan Cancel "ALWAYS / USE ZIP CODE" Charleston, SC

1982-11-05

No Image

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

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Forrest Percival Sherman, born 30 October 1896 in Merrimack, N.H., was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1917. A naval aviator from 1922, his peacetime service included aviation, surface, and staff assignments. Commanding Wasp (CV-7) when she was sunk by a Japanese submarine 15 September 1942, he was awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism in command of the carrier during the opening days of the south Pacific operations. Assigned to Admiral Nimitz's staff he became a stellar member of that effective organization. After the war he filled a key position in the Navy Department and then went to command U.S. Naval Forces Mediterranean (later 6th Task Fleet). From 2 November 1949 until his death in Naples, Italy, 22 July 1951, Admiral Sherman was Chief of Naval Operations. {DANFS}

 

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