BON HOMME RICHARD CVA 31

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.

Essex Class Aircraft Carrier Keel Laid 1 February 1943 - Launched 29 April 1944 USS BON HOMME RICHARD CV-31 Commissioned 26 November 1944 - Decommissioned 9 January 1947 Recommissioned 15 January 1951 USS BON HOMME RICHARD CVA-31 Reclassified Attack Aircraft Carrier (CVA) 1 October 1952 Decommissioned 15 May 1953 Recommissioned 6 September 1955 - Decommissioned 2 July 1971 Struck from Naval Register 20 September 1989 Sold 1992 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 Bon Homme Richard CV-31 / CVA-31 Covers Page 1    (1944-1970)

 

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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1st Commissioning 26 November 1944 to 9 January 1947

 

Locy Type 2(n) (27 Oct 1945)

1945-10-27

CV-31. Navy Day, stationary from the "Seattle Navy Mothers' Hostess House".

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1945-11-02

CV-31

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-01-27

CV-31

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2nd Commissioning 15 January 1951 to 15 May 1953

 

Locy Type 2

1951-04-04

CV-31

 

Locy Type 7

1953-01-17

CVA-31

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3rd Commissioning 6 September 1955 to 2 July 1971

 

Locy Type FDPS 2 (BON HOME RICHARD)

1955-09-06

CVA-31. First Day Postal Service. Error "HOME" not "HOMME"

 

Locy Type FDPS 9efu (BON HOME RICHARD)

1955-09-06

CVA-31. First Day Postal Service. Error "HOME" not "HOMME"

 

Locy Type 2 (BON HOME RICHARD)

1955-09-26

CVA-31. Error "HOME" not "HOMME"

 

Locy Type 2(n+)

1956-12-08

CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87

1966-10-27

CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2(n+) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87a

1970-04-04

CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS) (1968)

1967-10-27

CVA-31

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS) (1970)

1970-05-30

CVA-31

 

Locy Type 7n+

1961-06-24

CVA-31

 

Locy Type 7t(n+u) (USS)

1969-08-13

CVA-31. "Free" Sailor Mail

 

Locy Type 9efu (BON HOME RICHARD)

1961-06-24

CVA-31. Error "HOME" not "HOMME"

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87b

1962-09-01

CVA-31

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-87c

1960-06-14

CVA-31

 

Other Information

USS BON HOMME RICHARD earned the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon (2 awards), the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon (2 awards), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 Battle star, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal w/ "Asia" clasp, the National Defense Service Medal (2 awards), the Korean Service Medal w/ 5 Battle stars, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2 awards), the Vietnam Service Medal w/ 10 Campaign stars,the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation Ribbon w/ Palm, the United Nations Korean Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Bonhomme Richard is the French equivalent of "Poor Richard." John Paul Jones gave the famous ship this name in honor of Benjamin Franklin.

Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name BON HOMME RICHARD - USS Bonhomme Richard (1765 Frigate), USS Bon Homme Richard (1864 Cruiser, Planned but Cancelled),
USS Bon Homme Richard CV-10 (renamed Yorktown prior to launch), USS Bon Homme Richard CV-31, and USS Bonhomme Richard LHD-6.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. John S. McCain, wife of Vice Admiral John S. McCain.

 

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