ALHENA AKA 9

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.

Alhena Class Cargo Ship
Keel Laid June 19 1940 as Maritime Commission type (C2-S) hull
Launched January 18 1941 as ROBIN KETTERING
Purchased by U.S. Navy May 31 1941


1. USS ALHENA AK-26
   Commissioned June 15 1941
   
   
2. USS ALHENA AKA-9
   Redesignated Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) November 26 1942
   Decommissioned May 22 1946
   
   Struck from Naval Register August 15 1946
   Transferred to Maritime Commission September 12 1946
   Sold 1960 to Isbrantsen Lines and refitted for commercial service
   
   
3. FLYING HAWK
   Entered Commercial Service (Date unknown)
   Scrapped 1971

 

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. AK-26 Covers Page 1     (1941)
2. AKA-9 Covers Page 1     (1943)

 

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 Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

 

Locy Type FDPS 3

1941-09-08

As AK-26
First Day of Postal Service
Walter Czubay

 

Locy Type 3 (A-OTO)

1941-12-13

As AK-26
Add-on cachet by Bruce D. Liddell

 

Locy Type 3z (BTT)

1943-05-14

As AKA-9

 

Other Information

ALHENA earned 5 Battle Stars (WWII)
* Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings, August 1942
* Treasury-Bougainville operation, October - November 1943
* Marianas operation, Capture and occupation of Saipan, June 1944
* Luzon operation, Lingayen Gulf landings, January 1945
* Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, March 1945

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - September 29 1943, October-November 1943, June 15-23 1944) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippine Liberation Medal

NAMESAKE - Named for a star in the constellation Gemini

 

---

 

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