STEINAKER DD 863

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 September 1 1944 - Launched February 13 1945 USS STEINAKER DD-863 Commissioned May 26 1945 USS STEINAKER DDR-863 Redesignated Radar Picket Destroyer (DDR) July 1 1952 Decommissioned July 2 1952 Recommissioned February 28 1953 USS STEINAKER DD-863 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) July 1 1964 Decommissioned February 24 1982 Struck from Naval Register February 24 1982 NATZAHUALCOYOTL E-04 (Mexican Naval Service) Transferred to Mexico February 24 1982 and renamed Retired in 2014 and is slated to be sunk as an artificial reef.

 

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 Steinaker DD/DDR-863 Covers Page 1     (1945-70)

 

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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Post Office Established May 30 1945 - Disestablished June 12 1952

 

Locy Type 2(n) Oct 27, 1945

1945-10-27

As DD-863

 

Locy Type 2(n) (DD)

1947-08-01

As DD-863

 

Locy Type 2t(nu) (DD)

1947-06-28

As DD-863

 

Locy Type 9#

1947-07-26

The cancel was applied to the back of the cover.

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Post Office Reestablished February 28 1953 - Disestablished February 24 1982

 

Locy Type 2

1953-03-27

As DDR-863

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1970-12-23

As DD-863

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (DDR)

1962-12-01

DDR-863

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (DD, USS)

1973-01-23

DD-863. Cachet by Stewart Milstein

 

Locy Type 9efu (N.Y.)

1970-12-23

As DD-863

 

Locy Type P [2(n) "R" removed]

1968-03-18

As DD-863

 

Other Information

STEINAKER received two battle stars for service in Vietnam

NAMESAKE - Donald B. Steinaker USMCR (September 15 1922 - October 9 1942)
Steinaker enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on March 20 1941. He served his basic training at the Marine Corps Recruit Deport on Parris Island, South Carolina. He attended advance training at Quantico, Virginia, before he was shipped to the South Pacific. During the Solomons campaign, Private First Class Steinaker was killed in action at the Matanikau River, Guadalcanal, on October 9 1942, when his unit was attacked during a heavy Japanese offensive. The small group of marines fought furiously against the overwhelming enemy forces and exacted a tremendous toll. Steinaker refused to be dislodged from his position and died at his post. Steinaker was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for gallantry in action

 

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