BUNCH APD 79

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.

Buckley Class Destroyer Escort Keel Laid February 23 1943 - Launched May 29 1943 USS BUNCH DE-694 Commissioned August 21 1943 USS BUNCH APD-79 Reclassified High Speed Transport (APD) July 31 1944 Decommissioned May 31 1946 Struck from Naval RegisterApril 1 1964 Sold 1965 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. DE-694 Covers Page 1     (1943)
2. APD-79 Covers Page 1     (1945)

 

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

 

Locy Type 2z

1943-06-05

As DE-694

 

Locy Type 2z

1945-05-31

As APD-79
Censored sailor's mail

 

Other Information

BUNCH earned 2 Battle Stars (WWII)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal

NAMESAKE - Kenneth Cecil Bunch USN (January 21 1919 - June 6 1942)
Bunch enlisted in the Navy at Des Moines, Iowa, on March 9 1937. He received his "boot camp" training at San Diego, Calif. Rated as Seaman 2d class on July 9 1937, Bunch was transferred to Scouting Squadron (VS) 42 ten days later. He remained with that unit in the years that followed, attaining the rate of Radioman 2d class on November 16 1940. With the extension of his enlistment on March 9 1941, Bunch was transferred to the Naval Air Station at Norfolk, Va., on August 29 1941 where he joined VS-8, of the then forming USS HORNET CV-8 Air Group, soon thereafter. While in that squadron, he attained the rate of Aviation Radioman 1st class on March 1 1942. On June 6 1942, the last day of The Battle of Midway, Bunch flew as Radioman-gunner in the Douglas SBD-3 "Dauntless" dive bomber piloted by Ens. Donald T. Griswold, USNR, as the HORNET air group joined in the attacks on the fleeing Japanese cruisers MOGAMI and MIKUMA. Antiaircraft fire claimed Griswold's SBD-3, the only airplane lost by VS-8 that day, and it crashed, killing both the pilot and his radioman. For his contribution to victory at Midway, ARM1c Bunch was posthumously awarded The Air Medal.

 

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