BIGELOW DD 942

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.

Forrest Sherman Class Destroyer Keel Laid 6 July 1955 - Launched 2 February 1957 USS BIGELOW DD-942 Commissioned 8 November 1957 - Decommissioned 5 November 1983 Struck from Naval Register 1 June 1990 Sold for scrap 1993 Repossessed 1 October 1996 Sunk 2 April 2003 as target in SINKEX

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. USS Bigelow DD-942 Covers Page 1     (1957-1979)

 

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 FDPS 2t(n+u)

1957-11-08

First Day Postal Service. This should be classified as a Provisional cancel. Looking closely, you can see that the 'i' is formed by the cutting away the bars of an 'e'.
Information courtesy of Bob Govern. Greg Ciesielski, Postmark Catalog Editor 2024.

 

Locy Type FDPS 9fu

1957-11-08

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-110

1967-12-02

Note:

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-110

1967-12-25

Christmas

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-110a

1979-02-22

70th Anniversary of the Great White Fleet return, cachet by TM Historical Covers

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u)

1958-04-04

This should be classified as a Provisional cancel. Looking closely, you can see that the 'i' is formed by the cutting away the bars of an 'e'. Information courtesy of Bob Govern. Greg Ciesielski, Postmark Catalog Editor 2024.

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS)

1979-03-07

Note:

 

Locy Type 9ef(n+u) (USS)

1966-06-15 to 1966-06-16

Note:

 

Locy Type 9fu

1967-12-02

Note:

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Water Tender 1/c Elmer Charles Bigelow, USN (12 July 1920 - 16 February 1945)
Bigelow enlisted in the Navy 21 September 1942. On 15 February 1945 while engaged with Japanese forces off Corregidor Island, Philippine Islands, destroyer USS Fletcher DD-445 was struck by an enemy projectile which penetrated a magazine and set fire to several powder cases. Water Tender, Second Class Bigelow, entered the burning compartment and extinguished the fire. He died the following day of injuries sustained and was posthumously awarded The Medal of Honor.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Verna B. Perry, mother of Water Tender Bigelow.

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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