SPENCER WHEC 36

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.

Treasury Class 327-foot Cutter Keel Laid 11 September 1935 - Launched 6 January 1937 USCGC JOHN C. SPENCER CGC-70 Commissioned 1 March 1937 USCGC SPENCER CGC-70 Renamed late 1937 USCGC SPENCER WPG-70 Redesignated (WPG) 11 September 1941 USCGC SPENCER WAGC-70 Redesignated (WAGC) 26 June 1943 USCGC SPENCER WHEC-36 Redesignated (WHEC) 1 May 1966 Decommissioned 23 January 1974 Served as an "Engineer Training School" until 15 December 1980 Sold for scrap 8 October 1981

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. USCGC Spencer WHEC-36 Covers Page 1     (1937-1974)

 

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

 

Locy Type 3ty (BBT) "LAUNCHING U.S.C.G. / JOHN C SPENCER"

1937-01-06

Launching, cover created by mail clerk aboard Receiving Ship, Brooklyn (SEATTLE), Elmer D. La Vergne, ANCS #397.

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Post Office Established October 5 1944 to April 26 1946

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-11-24

WAGC-36. Censored Officer's Mail.

 

Locy Type RCVD USPO Machine Cancel Juneau AK

1938-01-11

CGC-70. "Alaska Mail Strike" written in lower left corner. From the Jim Myerson collection.

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No Postal Facilities After April 26 1946

 

Locy Type RCVD

1951-11-26

Note:

 

Locy Type RCVD

1973-04-09

Note:

 

Other Information

USCGC SPENCER earned the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the China Service Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ four battle stars, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal w/ five battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal w/ Asia bar, the National Defense Service Medals (2 awards), the Vietnam Service Medal w/ three battle stars, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/ Palm Ribbon, the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon (2 awards) and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal during her Coast Guard career.

NAMESAKE - John C. Spencer, the 16th Secretary of the Treasury. He was born in 1788 in Hudson, New York, graduated from Union College in 1806 and studied law. He was admitted to the state bar in 1809 and began a law practice in Canandaigua, New York. He served during the War of 1812 and was elected to and served in the House of Representatives from 1817-1819. He then served in a number of state public offices before being appointed the Secretary of War by President John Tyler in 1841. He was appointed as the Secretary of the Treasury in 1843, following the resignation of Secretary Walter Forward that same year. Spencer resigned in 1844 and was nominated by President Tyler to the United States Supreme Court but was rejected by the Senate. He died in Albany, New York on 17 May 1855.

 

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