TARAWA LHA 1

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.

Tarawa Class Amphibious Assault Ship Keel Laid 15 November 1971 - Launched 1 December 1973 USS TARAWA LHA-1 Commissioned 29 May 1976 - Decommissioning Ceremony 4 December 2008 Decommissioned 31 March 2009 Sinking Exercise (SINKEX'24)

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 Tarawa LHA-1 Covers Page 1    (1978-2009)

 

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 2(n+)(USS)

1976-05-29

First Day in Commission. Ship's cachet, signed by CO.

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1976-08-06

Welcome to Home Port, San Diego CA. Cachet by USS California Chapter No. 51, USCS

 

Locy Type 2-1(n) (USS)

1978-10-13

Cachet by the Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

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

1993-11-20

50th Anniversary of the Assault on Tarawa

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u) (USS)

1993-11-20

50th Anniversary of the Assault on Tarawa

 

Locy Type 9n+y (USS)(MPS)

2000-11-10

Collectors request, from the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type 11-2n+(USS FPO AP 96622-1600)

2006-04-13

SASE to contributor Tom Kean.

 

Locy Type 11z (FPO AP 96622)

2007-02-28

Cachet by Philip R. Edwards

 

Locy Type 12-2n+ (USS,FPO AP 96622-1600)

2008-12-04

Deactivation, from the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type 13-2y (USS, FPO AP 96622-1600)(MPS)

2001-03-23

Cachet by Charles B. (CB) Hall, from the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type F "100th Anniversary of the Great White Fleet" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. CD-10

2008-05-05

Serviced by Earl Minnis

 

Locy Type F

2008-11-20

Commemoration of the Battle of Tarawa, cachet by Phil Edwards

 

Locy Type F

2008-12-04

Deactivation Ceremony, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type LDC 11z (FPO AP 96622)

2009-03-31

Last Day of Commission

 

Locy Type LDC 12-2n+ (USS,FPO AP 96622-1600)

2009-03-31

Last Day of Commission

 

Locy Type LDC F x2 (Back of Cover)

2009-03-31

Last Day of Commission

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USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Deactivation Ceremony Station" San Diego CA

2008-12-04

Deactivation Ceremony, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Decommissioning Day Station" San Diego CA

2009-03-31

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

 

Other Information

USS TARAWA has earned the Joint Meritorious Unit Award Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon w/ 2 bronze stars, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon w/ 1 bronze star, the Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (5 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Medal w/ one bronze star, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal w/ 2 bronze stars, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal w/ 2 bronze stars and the Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for Tarawa Atoll. During World War II, Tarawa was occupied by the Japanese, and starting on November 20, 1943 it was the scene of the bloody Battle of Tarawa. On that day United States Marines landed on Tarawa and Makin atolls and suffered heavy losses from Japanese soldiers occupying entrenched positions on the atolls. The Marines secured the island after three days of intense fighting.

Two ships of the US Navy have borne the name TARAWA - USS Tarawa CV-40 and USS Tarawa LHA-1.

The ships sponsor was Audrey B. Cushman, the wife of General Robert E. Cushman, former Commandant of the Marine Corps.

 

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