ACHERNAR AKA 53

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.

Andromeda Class Attack Cargo Ship
Keel Laid 6 September 1943 - Launched 3 December 1943


1. USS ACHERNAR AKA-53
   Commissioned 31 January 1944
   Assigned to Naval Transportation Service (NTS) 1946
   Transferred to Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) 1 October 1949
   Decommissioned 18 May 1956
   Recommissioned 1 September 1961 - Decommissioned 1 July 1963
   
   Struck from Naval Register 2 February 1965
   
   
2. CASTILLA TA-21
   Sold to Spain 2 February 1965 and renamed
   Decommissioned by Spain to reserves 1980
   
   Struck from the Spanish Navy List 1 January 1982
   Scrapped 1987

 

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. USS Achernar AKA-53 Covers Page 1     (1946-1955)

 

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	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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Post Office Established 31 January 1944 - Disestablished 9 December 1946

 

Locy Type 9efu

1946-12-03

Note:

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. A-5

1946-01-14

Cacheted. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. A-5a

1946-07-25

Cachet by Winfred M. Grandy

 

Locy Type P USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. A-5a

1946-12-03

Ship name repositioned.

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In 1950, no post office aboard

 

USPO Slogan Machine Cancel "Fleet Post Office Navy 128 Pearl Harbor Br." Honolulu HI

1950-03-20

Note:

 

USPO Slogan Machine Cancel "Fleet Post Office Navy 128 Pearl Harbor Br." Honolulu HI

1950-03-20

"In 1950 with no post office aboard, the yeoman used a cachet as if it were a cancel" USCS Postmark Catalog

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Post Office Reestablished 20 March 1951 to 19 December 1955

 

Locy Type FDPS 2

1951-04-02

First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2

1954-07-19

Note:

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Post Office Reestablished 1961 - Disestablished 1 July 1963

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1961-12-09

Note:

 

Other Information

USS ACHERNAR earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the China Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 2 Battle stars, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 Battle star, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal w/ Asia clasp, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korea Service Medal w/ 3 Campaign stars, the United Nations Service Medal and the Republic of Korea War Memorial Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for the brightest star in the southern constellation Eridanus with a magnitude of .6. It is at least 200 times more luminous than the sun and one of the 10 brightest stars in the sky. It is about 118 light-years from the Earth.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Adela Rogers St. John.

 

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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.

 

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