CASTOR AKS 1

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.

Castor Class General Stores Issue Ship Keel Laid as Maritime Commission type (C2-Cargo) hull Launched May 20 1939 as CHALLENGE Acquired by U.S. Navy October 23 1940 Renamed October 29 1940 USS CASTOR AKS-1 Commissioned March 12 1941 - Decommissioned June 30 1947 Recommissioned November 24 1950 - Decommissioned October 31 1968 Struck from Naval Register December 1 1968 Sold July 25 1969 to Mitsui and Co. Japan 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 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. Castor Covers Page 1    (1941-68)

 

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 March 12 1941 - Disestablished August 24 1946

 

Locy Type FDC 3 Mar 12, 1941 "FIRST DAY / COMMISSION"

1941-03-12

First Day in Commission
Cachet by Dr. S. E. Hutnick.

 

Locy Type FDC 3 Mar 12, 1941 "FIRST DAY / COMMISSION"

1941-03-12

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1941-11-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 2z

1947-01-19

Note:

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

1943-04-01

Note:

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-11-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 9efw

1941-11-26

Note:

 

Locy Type 9x

1941-11-26

Note:

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. C-21

1945-10-27

Note:

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. C-21a

1945-11-21

Note:

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Post Office Reestablished March 16 1951 - Disestablished September 30 1968

 

Locy Type FDPS 2r Mar 21, 1951

1951-03-21

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9efu

1951-03-21

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1963-11-11

Note:

 

Locy Type 2r

1955-01-08

Note:

 

Locy Type 9efu

1966-07-09

NOte:
 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. C-21c

1958-10-27

Note:
 

Locy Type PPB USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. C-21d

1966-07-09

Note:

 

Other Information

CASTOR earned 3 Battle Stars for WWII service
* Pearl Harbor
December 7 1941
* Gilbert Islands operation
Tarawa, November 17 to December 8 1943
* Okinawa Gunto operation
Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1 to June 30 1945

Earned 2 Battle Stars for Korea
* Communist China Spring Offensive
May 27 to June 1 1951
* UN Summer-Fall Offensive
August 12 1951

Earned 6 Campaign Stars for Vietnam
* Vietnam Defense
July 14-19 1965
September 8-20 1965
October 5-11 1965
October 17-23 1965
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive
April 22 to May 5 1966
May 15-25 1966
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
July 11 to August 10 1966
September 25 to October 15 1966
November 23-25 1966
December 3-16 1966
February 12-23 1967
April 28 to May 29 1967
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
July 7-21 1967
August 3-9 1967
September 20 to October 7 1967
October 14-22 1967
December 4-18 1967
December 27 1967 to January 2 1968
* Tet Counteroffensive
February 2-16 1968
February 23 to March 11 1968
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
May 7-22 1968

CASTOR was at Pearl Harbor December 7 1941 at The Pearl Harbor Submarine Base

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Combat Action Ribbon - China Service Medal - American Defense Campaign Medal - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - >Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korean Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal - Vietnam Service Medal (6) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal

NAMESAKE - Named for the more northern of the two bright stars in the constellation Gemini

 

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