McCULLOCH WHEC 386

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.

Barnegat Class Small Seaplane Tender Keel Laid February 1 1943 as Small Seaplane Tender AVP-56 Redesignated Motor Torpedo Boat Tender (AGP) May 11 1943 Launched July 10 1943 USS WACHAPREAGUE AGP-8 Commissioned May 17 1944 - Decommissioned May 10 1946 Struck from Naval Register June 5 1946 USCGC McCULLOCH WPG-386 Transferred to U.S. Coast Guard and Commissioned May 10 1946 USCGC McCULLOCH WAVP-386 Reclassified Small Seaplane Tender (WAVP) 1949 USCGC McCULLOCH WHEC-386 Reclassified High Endurance Cutter (WHEC) May 1 1966 Decommissioned May 9 1972 RVNS NGO KUYEN HQ-17 (South Vietnamese Naval Service) Transferred to South Vietnam June 21 1972 and renamed BRP GREGORIO de PILAR PS-8 (Philippine Naval Service) Custody assumed by Republic of the Philippines April 1975 Commissioned into the Philippine Navy May 1975 Sold outright to the Republic of the Philippines April 5 1976 Decommissioned by the Philippine Navy May 1985 Fate unknown

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 Wachapreague AGP-8 Covers Page 1     (1946)

 

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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1st Commissioning (USN) May 17 1944 to May 10 1946

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #16102)

1945-10-29

As AGP-8

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #16102)

1946-04-09

As AGP-8

 

Locy Type 9efu

1945-10-29

As AGP-8

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2nd Commissioning (USCG) May 10 1946 to May 9 1972

 

Locy Type 2az*

1948-01-06

As WPG-386. Signed by Admiral Joseph F.Farley, Commandant USCG

 

Locy Type 2az*

1948-02-14

As WPG-386. Valentine's Day.

 

Locy Type 2az*

1948-06-28

As WPG-386

 

Locy Type FAKE USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-88

1947-12-29

As WPG-386. FAKE postmark by Glenn W. Dye

 

Locy Type FAKE USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. M-88

1948-01-01

As WPG-386. New Year's Day. FAKE postmark by Glenn W. Dye

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No Naval Postal Facilities Available after 1948

 

USPO Machine Cancel Boston MA

1956-03-12

N/A

As WAVP-386

 

USPO Machine Cancel Wilmington NC

1969-10-08

N/A

As WHEC-386. Add-on cachet by Michael Hebert (MH Cachets)

 

USPO Slogan Machine Cancel Wilmington NC

1970-12-14

As WHEC-386. Ship's Marking from the "Ship's Office".

 

USPO Machine Cancel Wilmington NC

1971-05-10

N/A

As WHEC-386

 

USPS Type 7di Honolulu HI

1972-04-19

N/A

As WHEC-386. "Welcome to Pearl Harbor - Enroute to Vietnam for Turnover" R/S cachet.

 

Locy Type 7di Naval Station Guam

1972-05-09

N/A

As WHEC-386. Decommissioning.

 

Locy Type 7di Naval Station Guam

1972-05-09

N/A

As WHEC-386. Decommissioning.

 

Locy Type 7di Naval Station Guam

1972-05-10

N/A

As WHEC-386. Decommissioning + 1. Autographed by the CO.

 

Locy Type 7di Naval Station Guam

1972-05-10

N/A

As WHEC-386. Decommissioning + 1.

 

Other Information

USS WACHAPREAGUE earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 4 Battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Philippines Liberation Medal during her US Navay career.

NAMESAKE - WACHAPREAGUE - An inlet on the eastern shore of the state of Virginia.

NAMESAKE - McCULLOCH - Hugh McCulloch was appointed to be the 27th Secretary of the Treasury. He served under President Abraham Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson from March 9, 1865 until March 3, 1869. He also served as the 36th Secretary of the Treasury from October 31, 1884 until March 7, 1885 under Presidents Chester A. Arthur and Grover Cleveland.

 

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