HERBERT J THOMAS DD 833

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.

Gearing Class Destroyer Keel Laid October 30 1944 - Launched March 25 1945 USS HERBERT J. THOMAS DD-833 Commissioned May 29 1945 USS HERBERT J. THOMAS DDR-833 Reclassified Radar Picket Destroyer (DDR) March 18 1949 USS HERBERT J. THOMAS DD-833 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) April 1 1964 Decommissioned December 4 1970 Struck from Naval Register February 1 1974 HAN YANG D-915 (Taiwanese Naval Service) Sold to Taiwan May 6 1974 and renamed Decommissioned by Taiwan August 16 1999, to be sunk as artificial reef

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. Herbert J. Thomas Covers Page 1    (1945-67)

 

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

 

Locy Type 2(n) Oct 27, 1945

1945-10-27

1945 Navy Day "Victory Cancel". Cachet by Grimsland.

 

Locy Type 2

1961-03-24

As DDR-833

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-05-02

As DD-833

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1946-11-11

As DD-833

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1947-10-12

As DD-833
Columbus Day, Cachet by Donald R. Graf

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1967-01-28

As DD-833

 

Locy Type 2z*

1945-08-02

As DD-833

 

Locy Type 9efu

1961-03-24

As DDR-833

 

Locy Type 9# (Br. #15910)

1946-05-02

As DD-833
This postmark is on the backside of May 2 1946 cover

 

Other Information

HERBERT J. THOMAS received 6 battle stars for her Korean War service and 3 Battle Stars for her Vietnam War service.

NAMESAKE - Sergeant Herbert Joseph Thomas, Jr., USMCR (February 8 1918 - November 7 1943).
Attached to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, Third Marine Division, Sergeant Thomas was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on the Solomon Islands on November 7 1943.
Sgt. Thomas attempted to disable a machine gun post with a hand grenade. However, the grenade bounced off the jungle flora and fell back to his position. He immediately leaped onto the grenade to save the lives of his men, who went on to destroy the enemy machine gun.
Sgt. Thomas also received the Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.
Note: Also honored by naming the hospital in his hometown, Thomas Memorial Hospital, South Charleston, West Virginia.

 

---

 

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.

 

---

Copyright 2024 Naval Cover Museum