RIGEL AR 11

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.

Rigel Class Destroyer Tender
Built 1918 by Skinner and Eddy, Seattle, WA. for the US Shipping Board
Delivered, 24 December 1918, to the US Shipping Board (USSB) and subsequently transferred to the US Navy


1. USS EDGECOMBE ID-3894
Commissioned 27 December 1918
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS)
Decommissioned and returned to the USSB, 25 April 1919
Transferred back to U.S. Navy by Executive Order October 29 1921
Delivered November 16 1921 and converted to a destroyer tender


2. USS RIGEL AD-13
Commissioned February 24 1922
Reassigned in 1923 to the 11th Naval District as tender with destroyers out of commission and as receiving ship at the Destroyer Base at San Diego
See Receiving Ship San Diego CA for more information


3. USS RIGEL ARb-1
Redesignated Base Repair Ship (ARb) April 10 1941


4. USS RIGEL AR-11
Redesignated Repair Ship (AR) December 1941
Decommissioned July 11 1946
Struck from Naval Register (Date unknown)
Transferred July 12 1946 to Maritime Commission for disposal

Sold for scrapping, 6 February 1948

 

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. Rigel Covers Page 1    (1925-46)

 

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	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Post Office Period September 1 1922 to [Date unknown]

 

Locy Type 3brs

1925-04-05

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 3s (C) "SAN DIEGO / CALIFORNIA"

1927-10-29

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 3s (C) "SAN DIEGO / CALIFORNIA"

1927-11-03

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 9pu

1934-05-13

As AD-13

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2nd Post Office Period July 1 1935 to June 30 1941

 

Locy Type 6egpy-1

1935-10-25

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 6egpy-1

1937-06-24

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 6egpy-1 ("DESTROYER BASE.")

1937-02-24

Notes:

 

Locy Type 7dit (3) "DESTROYER BASE / BRANCH

1935-10-25

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 7dit (3) "DESTROYER BASE / BRANCH

1938-02-22

As AD-13
Washington's Birthday. Cachet by Battleship Oregon Chapter No. 22, USCS and possibly Robert L. Manley

 

Locy Type 7dit(3) "DESTROYER BASE / BRANCH

1938-05-31

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 9vy

1937-03-18

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 9wy

1937-03-18

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 9xy

1937-03-18

As AD-13

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3rd Post Office Period July 1 1941 to July 1 1946

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r

1941-07-24

As AR-11
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r

1941-07-24

As AR-11. First Day of Postal Service, possible Harry Klotzbach cachet but backside of this cover has the R/S marking from Cachetmaker Al Cohen.

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r

1941-07-24

As AR-11. First Day of Postal Service, Cachetmaker Dr. S. E. Hutnick.

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-04-30

As AR-11
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 3r (A-OTO)

1941-08-28

As AR-11

 

Locy Type 3z

1944-01-12

As AR-11
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 9v

1945-02-10 to 1945-02-20

As AR-11
Mark from back of cover

 

Locy Type Fz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. R-48

1943-07-11

As AR-11
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type Fz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. R-48

1942-01-17

As AR-11
Appears to have Provisional Bars

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Locy Type 3ey (Unlisted)

1931-06-01 to 1935-06-30

As AD-13
San Diego Receiving Ship

 

Locy Type 5 (Unlisted) Dial Text "SAN DIEGO, CALIF. / (RECEIVING SHIP BR.)" Killer Text "IN HONOR OF / MOTHERS DAY"

1934-05-13

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 5 (Unlisted) Dial Text "SAN DIEGO, CALIF. / (RECEIVING SHIP BR.)" Killer Text "U.S.S. RIGEL / U.S. DES.BASE"

1934-11-22

As AD-13
On back, New York City (Recd.) Postmark

 

Locy Type 5 (Unlisted) Dial Text "SAN DIEGO, CALIF. / (RECEIVING SHIP BR.)" Killer Text "ARD-1 ADMITS / USS SICARD"

1935-01-28

As AD-13

 

Locy Type 6egiy-1 (Unlisted) Dial Text "RECEIVING BR. SAN DIEGO / CALIF."

1933-09-21

As AD-13

 

Other Information

RIGEL earned 4 Battle Stars for WWII service

RIGEL AR-11 was at Pearl Harbor December 7 1941 at The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard

 

Additional Naming History Sources

Shipscribe page for USS Edgecombe has a good write-up on the early history.
Shipscribe page for USS Altair also has information about USS Rigel.

 

NAMESAKE - Named for a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Orion

 

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