WILKES T-AGS 33

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.

Wilkes Class Hydrographic Survey Ship Keel Laid 18 July 1968 - Launched 31 July 1969 Delivered to the Navy 28 June 1971 USNS WILKES T-AGS-33 Placed in service 16 July 1971 Placed ready reserve status 20 April 1975 Reactivated 31 March 1976 Placed out of service in 1979 Transferred to Tunisia 29 September 1995 Final Disposition, fate unknown

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. USNS Wilkes T-AGS-33 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

 

Locy Type 2

1985-01-03

The ship had no postal facilities.

 

Other Information

USNS WILKES earned the National Defense Service Medal during her Naval service.

NAMESAKE - Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877)
Wilkes was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 and commanded the ship in the Trent Affair during the American Civil War (1861–1865), where he attacked a Royal Mail Ship, almost leading to war between the US and the UK. His behavior led to two convictions by court-martial, one stemming from the massacre of almost 80 Fijians on Malolo in 1840.

Four ships of the US Navy have borne the name WILKES in his honor - USS Wilkes TB-35, USS Wilkes DD-67, USS Wilkes DD-441 and USNS Wilkes T-AGS-33.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Hollis Lyons Joy (Deborah Wilkes Joy), Wilkes' great granddaughter.

 

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