BANG AGSS 385

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.

Balao Class Submarine Keel Laid April 30 1943 - Launched August 30 1943 USS BANG SS-385 Commissioned December 4 1943 - Decommissioned February 12 1947 Recommissioned October 4 1952 USS BANG AGSS-385 Redesignated Auxiliary Research Submarine (AGSS) December 1 1962 Decommissioned September 28 1972 COSME GARCIA S-34 (Spanish Naval Service) Loaned to Spain September 28 1972 under terms of the Security Assistance Program Sold outright to Spain and struck from the Naval Register November 18 1974 Sold 1983 for scrapping by the Spanish government

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     (1969)

 

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

 

Kittery ME Machine

1943-08-30

Twin Launching with USS PILOTFISH SS-386

 

USPO Slogan Machine Cancel "Navy Yard Br." Portsmouth NH

1943-12-04

N/A

Commissioning, cachet by George J. Contraros

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NO POSTMARKS REPORTED

POSTMARK DATE

Note:

 

Other Information

BANG earned 6 Battle Stars (WWII)
* 1st War Patrol March 29 1944 Luzon Strait
* 2nd War Patrol June 6 1944 Marianas
* 3rd War Patrol August 27 1944 East China Sea
* 4th War Patrol October 25 1944 off Formosa
* 5th War Patrol January 5 1945 East China Sea
* 6th War Patrol March 25 1945 Luzon Strait

Credited with sinking...
The 1930-ton Japanese Cargo Ship TAKEGAWA MARU April 29 1944 off Luzon
The 2859-ton Japanese Cargo Ship NITTATSU MARU April 30 1944 off Luzon
The 5947-ton Japanese Cargo Ship KINREI MARU May 4 1944 off Luzon
The 1804-ton Japanese Cargo Ship TOKIWASAN MARU September 9 1944 East China Sea
The 1916-ton Japanese Cargo Ship SHORYU MARU September 9 1944 East China Sea
The 507-ton Japanese Tanker TOSEI MARU No. 2 September 19 1944 East China Sea
The 2878-ton Japanese Cargo Ship SAKAE MARU November 23 1944 off Formosa
The 2340-ton Japanese Passenger/Cargo Ship AMAKUSA MARU November 23 1944 off Formosa

NAMESAKE - Named for a type of sardine

 

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