GILMER APD 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.

Clemson Class Destroyer
Keel Laid 25 June 1918 - Launched 24 May 1919


1. USS GILMER Destroyer No. 233
Commissioned 30 April 1920


2. USS GILMER DD-233
Designated (DD) 17 July 1920 - Decommissioned 31 August 1938
Recommissioned 25 September 1939


3. USS GILMER APD-11
Reclassified High-speed Transport (APD) 22 January 1943
Decommissioned 5 February 1946
Stricken 25 February 1946

Sold 3 December 1946 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 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 Gilmer DD-233 / APD-11 Covers Page 1    (1920-1943)

 

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

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1st Commissioning 30 April 1920 to 31 August 1938

 

Locy Type 3 (BC BBT) "SAN DIEGO / CALIF"

1934-11-29

DD-233. Thanksgiving Day, cachet by Henry Kraus

 

Locy Type 3 (BC-BBT) "NORFOLK / V.A."

1936-06-26

DD-233. Cachet by Leo A. Schupp

 

Locy Type 3 (BC-BBT) "PORTSMOUTH / V.A."

1936-09-18

DD-233. Cachet commemorating the GILMER floating out of its cradle while drydocked because of Hurricane Thirteen's storm surge. The storms total duration was between September 8 – September 25 with max winds of 125 mph. It came within 45 miles of Cape Hatteras NC before turning on a NE direction.

 

Locy Type 3s (C)

1927-06-09

DD-233. Sailor's Mail

 

Locy Type 5s (C)

1933-02-22

DD-233. Washington's Birthday

 

Locy Type LDC 3 (BC-BBT) "LAST DAY IN / COMMISSION"

1938-08-31

DD-233. Last Day of Commission, cachet by William F. Schlechter

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2nd Commissioning 25 September 1939 to 5 February 1946

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r (AC-BBT) "FIRST DAY / CANCELLATION" {Blacked out by Security Officer}

1939-11-16

DD-233. First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Al Cohen

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r (AC-BBT) "FIRST DAY / CANCELLATION" {Blacked out by Security Officer}

1939-11-16

DD-233. First Day of Postal Service, cachet by Walter Czubay

 

Locy Type 3r (AC-BBT) "BREMERTON / WASH"

1940-12-25

DD-233. Christmas Day, patriotic Cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type 3r (AC-BBT) "HAPPY / NEW YEAR"

Dec 1940 - Jan 1941

DD-233. New Year's Day, Patriotic Cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT) "SILENCE / SAVES SHIPS"

1942-10-11

DD-233. Censored sailors mail. From the Tom Kean collection.

 

Locy Type 3z (TBT)

1943-08-16

APD-11

 

Locy Type 9v

1940-12-25

DD-233. Christmas Day, Patriotic Cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-01-01

DD-233. New Year's Day, Patriotic Cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type 9x

1940-12-25

DD-233. Christmas Day, Patriotic Cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type 9x

1941-01-01

DD-233. New Year's Day, Patriotic Cachet by Jacques Minkus

 

Locy Type Fz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. G-14

1942-03-06

DD-233. Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Other Information

USS GILMER earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal, the China Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal (w/ Fleet clasp), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 7 Battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal and the Navy Occupation Service Medal (w/ Asia clasp) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Thomas Walker Gilmer (6 April 1802 - 28 February 1844)
Gilmer served for many years in the Virginia House of Delegates, became Governor of Virginia in 1840, and was elected to Congress in 1841. He was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Tyler 15 February 1844 but was killed 28 February 1844 by the bursting of a gun while on board USS PRINCETON

Two ships of the US Navy have been named GILMER - USS Gilmer DD-233/APD-11 and USS Gilmer PC-565.

 

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