KULA GULF AKV 8

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.

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier Authorized as "VERMILLION BAY" Renamed 6 November 1943 Keel Laid 16 December 1943 - Launched 15 August 1944 USS KULA GULF CVE-108 Commissioned 12 May 1945 - Decommissioned 3 July 1946 Recommissioned 15 February 1951 - Decommissioned 15 December 1955 Redesignated Aircraft Ferry AKV-8 7 May 1959 while in reserve Transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service 30 June 1965 USNS KULA GULF T-AKV-8 Placed In Service 30 June 1965 - Out of Service 6 October 1969 Struck from Naval Register 15 September 1970 Sold 1971 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 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 Kula Gulf CVE-108 Covers Page 1     (1946-1954)
2. USS Kula Gulf AKV-8 Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

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

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1st Commissioning 12 May 1945 to 3 July 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-02-10

Note:

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2nd Commissioning 15 February 1951 to 15 December 1955

 

Locy Type FDPS 2

1951-03-05

First Day Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson

 

Locy Type 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. K-11

1951-03-20

Note:

 

Locy Type 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. K-11a

1954-08-15

Note:

 

Locy Type 9efu

1951-03-20

Note:

 

Locy Type LDPS 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. K-11a

1955-10-13

Last Day of Postal Service, cachet by Tazewell G. Nicholson. Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.

 

Other Information

USS KULA GULF earned the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal (w/ "Asia" and "Europe" clasps) and the National Defense Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - The night naval battle of 6 July 1943 between an American cruiser-destroyer task group under Rear Admiral W. L. Ainsworth, and a powerful Japanese destroyer force in a 5-mile wide gulf between Kolobangara and New Georgia, Solomon Islands. The task group sank one enemy destroyer and drove a second ashore, while Japanese torpedoes sank the Light Cruiser USS HELENA CL-50.

The ships sponsor was Miss Dorothy Mott.

 

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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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