POLARIS AF 11

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.

Aldebaran Class Stores Ship
Keel Laid July 23 1938 as DONALD McKAY
Sold June 27 1939 to Moore-McCormack Lines
Acquired by U.S. Navy January 27 1941


1. USS POLARIS AF-11
   Commissioned April 4 1941 - Decommissioned January 18 1946
   
   Struck from Naval Register February 7 1946
   Reacquired and reinstated on Naval Register October 6 1948
   Recommissioned July 1 1949 - Decommissioned January 12 1957
   
   Struck from Naval Register October 10 1957
   Fate unknown

 

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 incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). 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. Covers Page 1     (1941-55)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). 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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1st Commissioning April 4 1941 to January 18 1946

 

Locy Type FDPS 3

1941-05-16

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9x

1941-05-16

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #15817)

1945-08-07

Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-08-01

Although this Dr. S. E. Hutnick cachet is for the First Day of Commissioning, the actual Commission date for POLARIS is April 4 1941.

 

Locy Type 3z (TTT)

1944-05-02

Note:

 

Locy Type 9# (Br. #15817)

1945-07-09 to 1945-07-13

Mark from back of cover

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2nd Commissioning July 1 1949 to January 12 1957

 

Locy Type FDPS 2r

1951-04-20

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2r

1951-08-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 9efu

1955-05-24

Note:

 

Other Information

POLARIS received one battle star for World War II service and six battle stars for Korean War service

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
China Service Medal (extended) - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (6) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal

NAMESAKE - The North Star

 

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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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