SONOMA ATO 12

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.

Sonoma Class Fleet Tug
Keel Laid November 7 1911 - Launched May 11 1912


1. USS SONOMA Fleet Tug No. 12
   Commissioned September 6 1912
   
   
2. USS SONOMA AT 12
   Designated Fleet Tug (AT) July 17 1920
   
   
3. USS SONOMA ATO 12
   Redesignated Fleet Tug Old (ATO) May 15 1944
   SUNK (Kamikaze bomber) October 24 1944 at San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf
   
   Struck from Naval Register November 27 1944

 

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 Sonoma AT/ATO-12 Covers Page 1    (1916-1941)

 

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 To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type 3(AC) "FORTRESS / MONROE VA"

1916-10-04

USS SONOMA Fleet Tug No. 12. Courtesy of the Jim Myerson collection.

 

Locy Type 5hks

1941-06-10

Official Business

 

Locy Type F "NEW YEAR'S / DAY" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. S-54

1940-01-01

New Year's Day. The postmark is Gold and thermographed.

 

Locy Type SLf

1924-07-24

Cover also postmarked from Bremerton WA (July 24 1924) and Norfolk VA (July 29 1924).

 

Other Information

USS SONOMA earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the Mexican Service Medal, the World War I Victory Medal (with Minesweeper clasp), the American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp), the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 5 battle stars), the World War II Victory Medal and the Philippines Liberation Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for a creek, a county, and a town in California, that in turn were named for one of the chiefs of the Chocuyen Native Americans of that region.

Three ships of the US Navy have been named after this town; USS Sonoma (Side-wheel gunboat, 1862), USS Sonoma AT/ATO 12 and USS Sonoma ATA 175.

 

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