BETELGEUSE AKA 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.

Arcturus Class Cargo Ship
Launched July 18 1939 as MORMACLARK
Acquired by U.S. Navy May 29 1941


1. USS BETELGUESE AK-28
   Commissioned June 14 1941
   
   
2. USS BETELGUESE AKA-11
   Redesignated Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) February 1 1943
   Decommissioned March 15 1946
   
   Struck from Naval Register March 28 1946
   
   
3. STAR BETELGEUSE (Panamanian Registry)
   Sold for commercial service to Compania Naviera Republica, Panama
   Resold July 24 1947 to Johnson Lines with Compania Naviera Puerta del Sur
   
   Sold 1972 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 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     (1941-46)

 

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 Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

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Post office established August 8 1941 - Disestablished February 25 1946

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 Aug 8, 1941

1941-08-08

As AK-28
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 3 (A-OTO)

1941-09-27

As AK-28
Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 3z (BTT)

1943-06-03

As AKA-11

 

Locy Type 3bz

1946-02-23

As AKA-11

 

Locy Type 9x

1941-08-09

As AK-28
First Day Postal Service (Posted a day late)

 

Locy Type Fz USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. B-31

c1941

As AK-28

 

Other Information

BETELGEUSE earned 6 Battle Stars for World War II service
* Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings
August 7-9 1942
* Guadalcanal (Third Savo)
November 12-15 1942
* Capture and defense of Guadalcanal
December 11-12 1942
* Sicilian occupation
July 9-10 1943
* Invasion of southern France
August 15 to September 25 1944
* Okinawa Gunto operation
Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1-9 1945

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (2) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

NAMESAKE - A variable red giant star of the first magnitude located near one shoulder of Orion in the constellation of that name. The star is of extremely low density and has a diameter of the order of 350,000,000 miles.

 

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