SARSFIELD DD 837

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.

Gearing Class Destroyer Keel Laid January 15 1945 - Launched May 27 1945 USS SARSFIELD DD-837 Commissioned July 31 1945 - Decommissioned August 1962 Recommissioned April 30 1963 - Decommissioned October 1 1977 Stricken October 1 1977 TE YANG DD-925 (Taiwanese Naval Service) Transferred to Taiwan October 1 1977 and renamed TE YANG DDG-925 (Taiwanese Naval Service) Reclassified Guided Missile Destroyer (Date unknown) Decommissioned April 1 2005

 

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. Covers Page 1     (1945-72)

 

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	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Commissioning July 31 1945 to August 1962

 

Locy Type 2(n) Oct 27, 1945

1945-10-27

Note:

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-12-25

Christmas, cachet by Donald R. Graf

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1947-11-27

Thanksgiving cachet.

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2nd Commissioning April 30 1963 to October 1 1977

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1967-01-19

Note:

 

Locy Type 9fu

1967-01-19

Note:

 

Other Information

SARSFIELD earned one battle star for service in the Vietnam War

NAMESAKE - Eugene S. Sarsfield (April 19 1902 - July 10 1943)
Sarsfield entered the United States Naval Academy in 1922. Upon his graduation on June 3 1926, he was commissioned Ensign. After serving in several assignments, he reported to USS KEARNY DD-432 on June 10 1940 to serve as Executive Officer and Navigator. He was commended by the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, for "Leadership, personal courage and ingenuity in solving the many problems arising under adverse conditions" when the KEARNY was torpedoed off Iceland on October 17 1941. Given command of USS McCORMICK DD-223 on December 8 1941, he was detached in September 1942, to supervise the outfitting of USS MADDOX DD-622 and he assumed command at her commissioning on October 3 1942. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct as commanding officer of the MADDOX when she attacked and probably sank an enemy submarine on May 6 1943. While acting as an escort for an Atlantic convoy, the destroyer made contact with the submerged enemy submarine. Lt. Comdr. Sarsfleld took prompt and effective action and, with great skill, delivered two accurate depth charge attacks. The submarine was damaged by the first attack; and, after the second attack, it appeared briefly on the surface upside down. As a result of these attacks, which demonstrated Sarsfield's thorough training and sound decision, the submarine was sunk. Reported missing on July 10 1943 and officially presumed dead on the next day, Comdr. Sarsfield was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and cited for extraordinary heroism as commanding officer of MADDOX during the invasion of Sicily on July 10 1943. After the assault troops landed at Gela, Lt. Comdr. Sarsfield, in the face of terrific aerial bombardment, maintained alert and accurate direction of gunfire until MADDOX was attacked by a German JU-88 Luftwaffe bomber. The aircraft dropped four 250-pound bombs. Two landed in the water and two hit the fantail and detonated the powder magazine. Sarsfield remained on board supervising the abandonment of the rapidly sinking ship (the MADDOX sank in 90 seconds) and helped greatly to save the lives of 9 officers and 65 men of the 284 on board.

 

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