AHRENS DE 575

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.

Buckley Class Type TE Destroyer Escort Keel Laid November 5 1943 - Launched December 21 1943 USS AHRENS DE-575 Commissioned February 12 1944 - Decommissioned June 24 1946 Struck from Naval Register April 1 1965 Sold January 20 1967 and broken up 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 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 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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Post Office Established February 15 1944 - Disestablished March 29 1946

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-04-12

Despite the cachet, the USCS Postmark Catalog lists the last day of postal service as two weeks earlier - 29 March 1946.

 

Other Information

AHRENS earned 2 Battle Stars (WWII)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 2 stars - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon

NAMESAKE - Edward Henry Ahrens USMC (November 4 1919 - August 8 1942)
Ahrens enlisted in the Marine Corps on February 3 1942 at Cincinnati, Ohio, and underwent boot camp training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. He transferred to the Marine Barracks, Quantico, Va., on March 16 1942. Assigned to Company "A", 1st Raider Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, soon thereafter, Ahrens landed with that unit from USS LITTLE APD-4 at Tulagi, Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands, in the second assault wave on August 7 1942. With Company "C", 1st Raider Battalion, securing the right flank on the beachhead, Company "A" moved inland and down the right slope of Tulagi's central ridge. Initially, the marines were not opposed. That evening, Company "A" took positions for the night west of a cricket ground on the island, as part of the defensive line extending along the ridge. The Japanese later launched a fierce nocturnal counterattack which drove a wedge between the two Raider companies. Isolating the latter near the beachhead, the enemy concentrated his efforts on Company "A" in an attempt to sweep up the ridge toward the residency, a former British government building serving as a Raider battalion command post. The Raiders, however, stood firm. During the savage battle that ensued, Ahrens, in a security detachment assigned the task of protecting the Raiders' right flank, singlehandedly engaged a group of Japanese in hand-to-hand combat as they attempted to infiltrate the Raiders' rear. Although painfully wounded in the groin, the gallant young marine killed at least three Japanese (including the attacking unit's senior officer) and aided materially in stopping their infiltration. For his part in stopping the enemy, Ahrens—who died of his wounds on August 8 — was posthumously awarded a Navy Cross as well as a share of The Presidential Unit Citation earned by the 1st Marine Division

 

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