LEONARD F MASON DD 852

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 6 August 1945 - Launched 4 January 1946 USS LEONARD F. MASON DD-852 Commissioned 28 June 1946 - Decommissioned 2 November 1976 Struck from Naval Register 2 November 1976 ROCS SHUEI YANG DDG-926 (Taiwanese Naval Service) Sold to Taiwan 10 March 1978 Decommissioned by Taiwan 16 February 2000 To be sunk as an artificial reef

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 Leonard F. Mason DD-852 Covers Page 1    (1946-1976)

 

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 9ef(nu)

1946-06-28

Commissioning, cachet by William Frederick. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 2

1951-01-22

Note:

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-09-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1947-12-31

Cachet by George V. Sadworth. Typed notation "Last Day Free Mail"

 

Locy Type 2(n) (USS)

1966-03-27

Note:

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1969-02-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1t(nu) (USS)

1976-05-30

Note:

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu)

1951-01-22

Note:

 

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

1968-06-28

Note:

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. L-10

1946-10-27

Add-on cachet by Richard F. Hoffner

 

Other Information

USS LEONARD F. MASON earned the Combat Action Ribbon w/ 1 star, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Navy Meritorious Unit Citation Ribbon, the China Service Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Medal (Korea), the National Defense Medal w/ 1 star, the Korea Service Medal w/ 1 silver star & 1 bronze star, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal w/ 1 silver star, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon w/ 1 star, the Republic of Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the United Nations Korea Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Korea War Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Private First Class Leonard Foster Mason, USMC (22 February 1920 - 22 July 1944).
Mason, born Middleboro, Ky., enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 1943. Promoted to private first class in March 1943, Mason was sent to the Pacific war zone in October. During the landing on Guam 22 July 1944, two enemy machineguns opened fire on Mason’s platoon. Although mortally wounded, Mason cleared out the hostile position, acting on his own initiative. His heroic act in the face of almost certain death enabled his platoon to accomplish its mission. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

Ships sponsor was Mrs. Hillary Mason, mother of PFC Mason.

 

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