PRIVATE JOHN R TOWLE T-AK 240

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.

Greenville Victory Class Cargo Ship Keel Laid December 9 1944 as "SS APPELTON VICTORY" Launched January 19 1945 - Delivered to the WSA March 23 1945 Acquired by USAT June 20 1946 USAT PRIVATE JOHN R. TOWLE Renamed and Placed in Service August 30 1946 Decommissioned by U.S. Army (date unknown) USNS PRIVATE JOHN R. TOWLE T-AK-240 Acquired by U.S. Navy March 1 1950 Placed In Service March 1 1950 - Placed Out of Service (date unknown) Returned to Maritime Administration August 25 1980 Struck from Naval Register July 31 1982 Sold June 4 1982 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).

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1. USNS Private John R. Towle T-AK-240 Covers Page 1     (1970-80)

 

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.

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Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

No Postal Facilities Onboard

 

Locy Type 2 Little America, Antarctica "U. S. Navy/ Operation/Deepfreeze"

1958-01-11

This Operation Deepfreeze expedition was designed to promote scientific knowledge about Antarctica during the International Geophysical Year. The ship had no postal facilities.

 

 

US Army-Air Force / Postal Service APO 121 Sondrestrom GREENLAND

1958-08-01

N/A

Arctic Operations 1958. Signed by Leo Lavin, Purser.

 

Other Information

The USNS Private John R. Towle earned the National Defense Service Medal and the Antarctic Service Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - John Roderick Towle (October 19, 1924 – September 21, 1944)
Towle 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.
Towle joined the Army from his birth city of Cleveland, Ohio, and by September 21, 1944 was serving as a private in Company C, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. On that day, near Oosterhout in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden, Towle engaged a German force with his rocket launcher in an attempt to disable two enemy tanks and a half track. He was killed during the battle and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor six months later, on March 15, 1945.
Towle, aged 19 at his death, was buried at Calvary Cemetery in his hometown of Cleveland.

 

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