PITTSBURGH CA 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.

Pennsylvania Class Armored Cruiser
Keel Laid 7 August 1901 - Launched 22 August 1903


1. USS PENNSYLVANIA Armored Cruiser No. 4
Commissioned 9 March 1905 - Decommissioned 1 July 1911


2. USS PITTSBURGH ACR-4
Renamed 27 August 1912
Recommissioned 20 May 1913


3. USS PITTSBURGH CA-4
Designated Heavy Cruiser (CA) 17 July 1920
Decommissioned 15 October 1921
Recommissioned 2 October 1922 - Decommissioned 10 July 1931

Struck from Naval Register 26 October 1931
Sold 21 December 1931 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 Pennsylvania ACR-4 covers Page 1    (1909-1911)
2. USS Pittsburgh ACR-4 / CA-4 Covers Page 1    (1914-1929)

 

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 9 March 1905 to 1 July 1911

USS PENNSYLVANIA Armored Cruiser No. 4

 

Locy Type 1s (C)

1910-05-16

Picture postcard entitled "U.S. Sailor's Life - Music on Board"

 

Locy Type 2

1911-09-21

Note:

 

Locy Type 9v (C)

1909-11-29

Official Business. From the Bob Reisinger collection.

 

Official Business Marking

1909-11-29

Unique "named" Official Business marking. From the Bob Reisinger collection.

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2nd Commissioning 20 May 1913 to 15 October 1921

USS PITTSBURGH Armored Cruiser No. 4

 

Locy Type 1u (C) USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. P-31b

1918-02-25

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (BC)

1914-01-03

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (A)

1917-05-29

Censored WWI use

 

Locy Type 6

1929-08-08

Note:

 

Locy Type 7

1921-02-15

Note:

 

USPO Machine Cancel San Francisco CA

1918-07-02

No Image

Incoming Officer's mail

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3rd Commissioning October 2 1922 to July 10 1931

USS PITTSBURGH CA-4

 

Locy Type 3 "MANILA / P.I." USCS Postmark Catalog Illus P-31

1928-12-27

This is a Japanese card commemorating the Grand Naval Review celebrating the emperor's accession to the throne. There were two such events, one in 1915 (Taisho or Yoshihito), and one in 1928 (Show a or Hirohito). Since this card was dated December 1928 and the ships and planes are clearly late 1920s vintage, this has to be the latter, or Showa Ascendancy.

 

Locy Type 3 "MANILA / P.I." USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. P-31

1928-12-27

This is a Japanese card commemorating the Grand Naval Review celebrating the emperor's accession to the throne. There were two such events, one in 1915 (Taisho or Yoshihito), and one in 1928 (Showa or Hirohito). Since this card was dated December 1928 and the ships and planes are clearly late 1920s vintage, this has to be the latter, or Showa Ascendancy.

 

Locy Type 3 "SHANGHAI / CHINA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. P-31

1929-06-16

Sailor's mail.

 

Locy Type 3 "ANTWERP / BELGIUM" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. P-31a

1924-08-05

Sailor's mail.

 

Locy Type 3s (A) "BEIRUT / SYRIA"

1924-02-25

Note:

 

Locy Type 3s "SHANGHAI / CHINA"

1929-12-12

Official Business.

 

Locy Type 3s "SHANGHAI / CHINA"

1930-05-23

Note:

 

Locy Type P "U.S.S. / PITTSBURGH" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. P-31e

1927-02-18

"U.S. ASIATIC FLEET" in dial and Official Business mail.

 

Locy Type LDPS 5hks "LAST DAY IN / COMMISSION"

1931-07-29

Last Day of Postal Service

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - (PENNSYLVANIA) - Named for the State of Pennsylvania

NAMESAKE - (PITTSBURGH) - Named for the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Used for Flight Deck testing from late 1910 to early 1911.
Used in Weapons Testing after decommissioning.

Four ships of the US navy have borne the name PENNSYLVANIA - USS Pennsylvania (1837 130-gun Ship of the Line), USS Pennsylvania ACR-4, USS Pennsylvania BB-38 and USS Pennsylvania SSBN-735.

Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name PITTSBURGH - USS Pittsburgh (1861 Ironclad Gunboat), USS Pittsburgh CA-4, USS Pittsburgh CA-72, USS Pittsburgh SSN-720 and USS Pittsburgh LPD-31.

 

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