DUNCAN DD 874

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.

Gearing Class Destroyer Keel Laid 22 May 1944 - Launched 27 October 1944 USS DUNCAN DD-874 Commissioned 25 February 1945 USS DUNCAN DDR-874 Reclassified Radar Picket Destroyer (DDR) 18 March 1949 USS DUNCAN DD-874 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) 1 January 1969 Decommissioned 15 January 1971 Struck from Naval Register 1 September 1973 Sunk as target 31 July 1980

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).

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1. USS Duncan DD-874 / DDR-874 Covers Page 1    (1945-1968)

 

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 Post Office 2 March 1945 to 14 October 1947

 

Locy Type 2t(nu)

1947-06-03

DD-874. Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 2t(nu)

1947-06-03

DD-874. Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-12-17

DD-874

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2nd Post Office 1 May 1948 to 15 September 1970

 

Locy Type 2a(n+) ("DDR")

1962-05-03

DDR-874. "United States Navy" cachet by Frank H. Strobel. Rubber stamp marking added to the postmark but it is not part of the postmark. From the John Young collection.

 

Locy Type 2(n) (B)

1948-05-23

DD-874. Cachet by Frank H. Strobel

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (B, DDR)

1963-05-17

DDR-874

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (DDR)

1957-12-30

DDR-874

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu) (DDR)

1968-02-25

DDR-874

 

Locy Type 9efu

1957-12-30

DDR-874

 

Locy Type P [2(n+) (B, DDR), "R" removed]

1969-05-03

DD-874. Official ships cachet, from the Wolfgang Hechler collection.

 

Other Information

USS DUNCAN earned the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Medal, the Korean Service Medal w/ 7 battle stars and the UN Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Silas Duncan (1788 - September 14 1834)
Duncan was appointed Midshipman November 15 1809. While Third Lieutenant of SARATOGA during the Battle of Lake Champlain, September 11 1814, he was sent in a gig to order the gunboats to retire. He succeeded in delivering the orders despite concentrated enemy fire which severely wounded him and caused the loss of his right arm. For his gallant conduct he was thanked by Congress. From 1814 to 1824 Commander Duncan saw active service on board INDEPENDENCE, HORNET, GUERRIERE, CYANE and FERRET. He died September 14 1834 at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

 

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