PRIVATE WILLIAM H THOMAS T-AP 185

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.

Tryon Class Evacuation Transport Keel Laid August 6 1941 as SS ALCOA CRUISER Launched December 30 1941 Acquired by U.S. Navy November 15 1942 USS RIXEY APH-3 Commissioned December 30 1942 - Decommissioned March 27 1946 Struck from Naval Register May 1 1946 Returned to Maritime Commission September 9 1946 Acquired by the USATS and commissioned USAT PRIVATE WILLIAM H. THOMAS Commissioned September 10 1946 Reacquired by U.S. Navy March 1 1950 Reinstated on Naval Register and assigned to MSTS USNS PRIVATE WILLIAM H. THOMAS T-AP-185 Placed in service 1950 - Out of Service December 27 1957 Struck from Naval Register December 27 1957 Sold August 28 1970 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. RIXEY Covers Page 1     (1943-46)
2. PRIVATE WILLIAM H. THOMAS Covers Page 1     (1955)

 

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

---

Post Office Established January 15 1943 - Disestablished February 17 1946

 

Locy Type 3z

1943-03-01

Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. R-18

1946-02-10

Note:

 

Other Information

RIXEY earned the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 4 Battle stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) and the Philippines Liberation Medal (2 awards) during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Presley M. Rixey (July 14 1852 - June 17 1928)
Rixey was appointed assistant surgeon on January 28 1874, passed assistant surgeon in April 1877, and promoted to the rank of surgeon in November 1888. Appointed Medical Inspector in August 1900, he became Surgeon General of the Navy on February 15 1902 and served as Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, with the rank of Rear Admiral, until his retirement February 4 1910. From January 16 1913 to April 16 1917, he served as a member of the Naval Examining Board, presiding over it during the last 4 months of that period. He died at his home in Rosslyn, Va., on June 17 1928

NAMESAKE - William H. Thomas (January 13, 1923 – April 22, 1945)
Thomas was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Thomas joined the Army from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and by April 22 1945 was serving as a Private First Class in the 149th Infantry Regiment, 38th Infantry Division. On that day, during a firefight in the Zambales Mountains on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, Thomas continued to fight even after being mortally wounded by an explosion which blew off both of his legs. He died later that day and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor five months later, on September 24 1945.
Thomas, aged 22 at his death, was buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.

 

---

 

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.

 

---

Copyright 2024 Naval Cover Museum