RADFORD DD 446

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.

Fletcher Class Destroyer Keel Laid 2 October 1941 - Launched 3 May 1942 USS RADFORD DD-446 Commissioned 22 July 1942 - Decommissioned 17 January 1946 USS RADFORD DDE-446 Reclassified Escort Destroyer (DDE) 26 March 1949 while in reserve Recommissioned 17 October 1949 USS RADFORD DD-446 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) 30 June 1962 Decommissioned 10 November 1969 Struck from Naval Register 10 November 1969 Sold October 1970 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 name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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 DD-446 / DDE-446 Radford Covers Page 1     (1943-1967)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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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USS RADFORD DD-446

1st Commissioning 22 July 1942 to 17 January 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n) (466)

1945-12-28

The ship's hull number is incorrectly given as DD-466 in the cancel.

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #16174)

1945-11-30

Note:

 

Locy Type 3z

1943-09-04

Note:

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USS RADFORD DDE-446

2nd Commissioning 17 October 1949 to 10 November 1969

 

Locy Type FDPS 2(n) (DDE)

1949-12-20

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2(n) (B,DDE)

1950-03-23

Note:

 

Locy Type 2r

1959-03-29

DDE-446

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USS RADFORD DD-446

Redesignated 30 June 1962 to 10 November 1969

 

Locy Type 2n+ (DD,USS)

1967-07-22

USCS Postmark Catalog shows Type 2(n+), clearly there are no parenthesis

 

Locy Type 9ef(n+u) (DD,USS)

1967-06-12

Note:

 

Other Information

USS RADFORD earned 12 battle stars for World War II service, 5 battle stars for Korean War service, and 4 for Vietnam service

NAMESAKE - Rear Adm. William Radford, USN (1 March 1808 - 8 January 1890)
Radford entered the U.S. Navy during 1825. He commanded the landing party from WARREN which captured the Mexican warship MALEK ADHEL at Mazatlan and took part in other Pacific coast operations of the Mexican War. During the Civil War, he commanded the ill-fated CUMBERLAND but was on board the Frigate ROANOKE as a member of a Court of inquiry when his ship was attacked by the Confederate Casemate Ram VIRGINIA. Captain Radford subsequently commanded the Armored Ship NEW IRONSIDES during Union attacks on Fort Fisher in December 1864 and in January 1865. Promoted Rear Admiral in 1866, he commanded the European squadron during 1869 and 1870. Rear Adm. Radford died at Washington, D.C.

 

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