VANDIVIER DER 540

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.

John C. Butler Class Type WGT Destroyer Escort Keel Laid November 8 1943 - Launched December 27 1944 Construction suspended February 17 1947 due to postwar cutbacks Laid up in Naval Industrial Reserve Shipyard, Boston Construction resumed July 1 1954 Redesignated Radar Picket Escort (DER) September 2 1954 USS VANDIVIER DER-540 Commissioned October 11 1955 - Decommissioned June 30 1960 Struck from Naval Register November 1 1974 Sunk as target February 7 1975 off the Florida coast

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. Covers Page 1     (1956)

 

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

 

Locy Type 2

1956-03-21

Note:

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Norman Francis Vandivier USNR (March 10 1916 – June 4 1942)
Vandivier entered the Indiana National Guard in 1935 and was promoted to Corporal before he completed his enlistment on July 1 1938. He enlisted in the Navy on July 6 1939 at Grosse Ile, Michigan, for aviation training and was enrolled as a Seaman Second Class. On October 20, Vandivier took the oath of office as an Aviation Cadet in the United States Naval Reserve and soon began pilot training at Pensacola, Florida. He received his wings on May 21 1940 when he was designated a Naval Aviator. At the completion of additional training, he was commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Reserve on June 28 1940. That same day, he was assigned to Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6) on board the Aircraft Carrier USS ENTERPRISE CV-6, to which he reported on August 1.
During the Battle of Midway, the Dauntless dive bombers of Bombing 6 jockeyed for position with those of Scouting 6. Vandivier's division followed the 2d division whose commander saw that many of Scouting 6's bombs were missing Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's flagship AKAGI. Rather than follow the 1st division in its attack on KAGA, which seemed well taken care of with critical hits, the 2d and 3d divisions bore down on AKAGI. In due course, it was Ens. Vandivier's turn. Over he went and then down, toward the flagship of the Pearl Harbor attack force. He released his bomb — whether or not it was a hit or a near miss will never be known — and pulled out of the dive. He banked his plane and headed home. He later reported by radio that he was making a water landing, but he and his gunner were never seen nor heard of again. Ens. Vandivier — promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) on June 30 1942 retroactively to April 15 1942 — was awarded the Navy Cross, posthumously, for "... extraordinary heroism and distinguished service. ..."

 

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