LANCASTER

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.

Screw Sloop of War
Keel Laid December 1857 - Launched October 20 1858


1. USS LANCASTER
   Commissioned May 12 1859 - Decommissioned March 19 1867
   Recommissioned August 26 1869 - Decommissioned July 31 1875
   Recommissioned August 26 1881 - Decommissioned September 7 1889
   Recommissioned March 19 1891 - Decommissioned June 30 1894
   Recommissioned September 12 1895 - Decommissioned December 31 1897
   Recommissioned May 5 1898
   Reassigned September 3 1898 as Gunnery Training Ship at Portsmouth, N.H.
   Decommissioned May 1 1902
   Served as Receiving Ship at Philadelphia Navy Yard, November 16 1903 - March 31 1912
   Transferred to Bureau of Public Health Service February 1 1913
   
   Stuck from Naval Register December 31 1915
   Served as Quarantine Detention Ship at Reedy Island, DL. Quarantine Station, 1916-20
   Served at New York Quarantine Station 1920-29
   
   Sold 1929
   Broken up 1933

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     (DATE RANGE)

 

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

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1st Commissioning May 12 1859 to March 19 1867

 

Mexico NY CDS

c1865-01-09

No Image

Incoming mail to ship at Panama, New Granada

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2nd Commissioning August 26 1869 to July 31 1875

 

Oval Ships Marking Unreadable CDS

1871-07-26

Courtesy of the Jim Myerson collection.

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3rd Commissioning August 26 1881 to September 7 1889

 

Napoli (Naples) Italy duplex

1882-11-22

Letter to Capt Henry C. Cochrane, USMC, mailed from Naples Italy on November 22 1882, back stamped in Salerno Italy on November 24 1882.

 

Brighton duplex

1884-10-15

No Image

Letter to Dr. S. Henderson Griffith USN, mailed from Brighton, England on October 15th, 1884, back stamped in Lisbon, Portugal on October 21st, 1884.

 

Dakar Senegal CDS

1885-04-08 to 1885-05-04

Back...Rio de Janeiro 04-08 CDS, New York paid duplex 05-04

 

Philadelphia "PAID" duplex postmark

1886-06-28

Letter to Dr. S. Henderson Griffith USN, mailed from Philadelphia PA on June 28, 1886, back stamped in London, England on July 9th, 1886.

 

Philadelphia "PAID" duplex postmark

1886-06-28

Mock-up of the Dispatch Agents marking from the front of this cover

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4th Commissioning March 19 1891 to June 30 1894

 

Pasadena, CA. duplex

1892-03-09 to 1892-04-02

Addressed to Lt. David Daniels at Yokohama
Back stamped San Francisco, CA F.D. March 10, 1892...Yokohama, Japan April 2 1892

 

Wahington D.C. Machine San Francisco, CA F.D.

1893-10-23 to 1893-10-28

Addressed to Lt. David Daniels at Yokohama
Postal card from The Navy Mutual Aid Association confirming assesment payment

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Flag Cancel Newport News VA

1904-10-01

Picture postcard showing "Drill on Board "USS Lancaster." Manuscript date of September 29th, 1904.
Writer says: "Old Point Comfort. Nonie: Well my darling I hope to be with you in less than two months and what long ones they will seem. Your loving Frank".

 

N/A

1909-05-18

No Image

Picture postcard
Receiving Ship LANCASTER is on the left, USS WYOMING BB-22 is on the right.

 

Other Information

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Civil War Medal - Spanish Campaign Medal

Commissioned in May 1859, just in time for the American Civil War, USS LANCASTER had several connections to Pennsylvania besides being named for one of the most important cities of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia built, and sponsored by Franklin County native Miss Harriet Lane, niece of incumbent president James Buchanan, the only Pennsylvania born president. USS LANCASTER served until after the Spanish-American War, last notable service again connected to Pennsylvania by serving as Receiving Ship at Phildelphia from 1903 to 1912.
Research and items courtesy of Glenn Smith.

 

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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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