WAKE PR 3

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.

Shallow-draft River Gunboat Keel Laid 17 October 1926 - Launched 28 May 1927 USS GUAM PG-43 Commissioned 28 December 1927 USS GUAM PR-3 Reclassified River Gunboat (PR) 15 June 1928 USS WAKE PR-3 Renamed 23 January 1941 Surrendered to Imperial Japanese forces at Shanghai 8 December 1941 Struck from Naval Register 25 March 1942 IJN TATARA (Imperial Japanese Naval Service) Renamed by the Imperial Japanese Navy Recovered by U.S. Forces August 1945 TAI YUAN (Republic of China Naval Service) Transferred to Nationalist China 1946 and renamed Captured by Communist Chinese forces 1949 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 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 Guam PG-43 / PR-3 Covers Page 1    (1929-1941)
2. USS Wake PR-3 Covers Page 1     (1941)

 

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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USS GUAM 1927-1941

Post Office Established 16 February 1928 - Name Changed 23 January 1941

 

Locy Type 3 (BC-BTT) "SHANGHAI / CHINA"

1936-10-02

GUAM PR-3. Cachet by John Coulthard and sponsored by Deane C. (DC) Bartley

 

Locy Type 3 (AC-TBB) "SHANGHAI / CHINA"

1941-05-22

WAKE PR-3. Renamed 23 January 1941...Awaiting new device. Cachet by John Coulthard.

 

Locy Type 3s "SHANGHAI / CHINA"

1933-08-30

GUAM PR-3

 

Locy Type 9v

1929-12-27

GUAM PR-3

 

Locy Type LD 3 (AC-TBB) "LAST DAY / --" (As GUAM)

1941-07-22

WAKE PR-3. Ship was renamed in January, new postmark devices signifying the name change arrived in July, so this was the Last Day as GUAM PR-3 on postmark devices. Cover serviced by Paul J. Gross

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USS WAKE PR-3 1941

Name Changed 23 January 1941 - First Day of Postal Service 23 July 1941

 

Locy Type FD 3 (A-BBT) "FIRST DAY /" (As WAKE)

1941-07-23

Cachet by Louis S. Pentel

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-07-23

First Day of Postal Service. From the Bob Reisinger collection.

 

Locy Type 9x

1941-07-23

First Day of Postal Service

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-08-25

Cachet by George Neumann

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-10-06

Cachet by M. Fay Muridge, sponsored by John Paul Jones Chapter No. 2, USCS, cachet director was Deane C. (DC) Bartley

 

Other Information

USS GUAM / WAKE earned the Yangtze Service Medal, the China Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal w/ "FLEET" clasp, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ one battle star and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKES

GUAM - Named for the island of Guam

Four ships of the US Navy have borne the name GUAM - USS Guam PG-43, USS Guam CB-2, USS Guam LPH-9 and USNS Guam HST-1.

The ships sponsor was Miss Louise Frances Bruce.

WAKE - Named for the island of Wake.

 

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