ELECTRA AKA 4

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.

Arcturus Class Cargo Ship
Keel Laid (Date unknown) as METEOR
Acquired by U.S. Navy 16 April 1941
Launched 18 November 1941


1. USS ELECTRA AK-21
   Commissioned 17 March 1942
   
   
2. USS ELECTRA AKA-4
   Reclassified Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) 1 February 1943
   Decommissioned 19 March 1946
   Struck from Naval Register (Date unknown)
   Transferred to Maritime Commission
   Reacquired by U.S. Navy 16 October 1951
   Recommissioned 3 May 1952 - Decommissioned 13 May 1955
   
   Struck from Naval Register 1 July 1961
   Returned to Maritime Commission 1 October 1962
   Sold 7 May 1974 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 Electra AK-21 / AKA-4 Covers Page 1    (1942-1954)

 

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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Post Office Established March 18 1942 - Disestablished March 6 1946

 

Locy Type FDC P "U.S.S. / ELECTRA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. E-13

1942-03-17

AK-21. First Day of Commission

 

Locy Type FDC P "U.S.S. / ELECTRA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. E-13

1942-03-17

AK-21. First Day of Commission, cachet by Howard D. Roloff

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

1943-04-06

AKA-4. Censored WWII V-MAIL use.

 

Locy Type 9efu

1943-02-22

AK-21. From the Richard F. Hoffner collection.

 

Locy Type 9vz

1942-03-23

AK-21. Mark from back of cover

 

Locy Type 9xz

1943-02-22

AK-21. From the Richard F. Hoffner collection.

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Post Office Reestablished April 14 1952 - Disestablished February 25 1955

 

Locy Type FDC 2r

1952-05-03

AKA-4. First Day in Commission, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type 2r

1952-05-19

AKA-4

 

Locy Type 9efu

1954-07-21

AKA-4

 

Other Information

USS ELECTRA earned the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 Battle star, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 6 Battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal w/ Asia clasp and the National Defense Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - In Greek mythology, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Also, a star.

 

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