LEA DD 118

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.

Wickes Class Destroyer
Keel Laid 18 September 1917 - Launched 29 April 1918


1. USS LEA Destroyer No. 118
   Commissioned 2 October 1918
   
   
2. USS LEA DD-118
   Designated (DD) 17 July 1920
   Decommissioned 22 June 1922
   Recommissioned 1 May 1930 - Decommissioned 7 April 1937
   Recommissioned 30 September 1939 - Decommissioned 20 July 1945
   
   Stricken 13 August 1945
   Sold 30 November 1945 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 Lea DD-118 Covers Page 1    (1931-41)

 

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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2nd Commissioning 1 May 1930 to 7 April 1937

 

Locy Type 3r (A-TTB) "SAN FRANCISCO / CALIF"

1936-11-13

Cacheted cover probably a Harry E. Klotzbach general purpose design.

 

Locy Type 3bs (XOX) "SEWARD / ALASKA"

1936-01-22

R/S marking on back from Gerald P. Todd

 

Locy Type P [9v or 9x with wording at bottom removed]

1936-10-15

Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type LDC 3r (A-TTB) "SAN DIEGO / CALIFORNIA"

1937-04-07

Last Day in Commission

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3rd Commissioning 30 September 1939 to 20 July 1945

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r (AC-BBT)

1939-12-12

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 3r (AC-BBT)

1941-03-22

Popeye cachet

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-03-22

Backside of the 1941 Popeye cover

 

Other Information

USS LEA received three battle stars for her World War II service

NAMESAKE - Edward Lea (January 31 1837 - January 1 1863)
Lea graduated from the Naval Academy in October 1855. Serving on the China Station at the outbreak of the Civil War, he continued to serve in the Navy although his father became an officer in the Confederate Army. The two met only once more, in one of the war’s most poignant incidents, when Lea, then Executive Officer in HARRIET LANE, was mortally wounded during the Confederate recapture of Galveston January 1 1863. His father, serving ashore in Galveston, was with his son at his death.

 

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