WARD APD 16

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.

Wickes Class Destroyer
Keel Laid May 15 1918 as COWELL
Name changed May 20 1918
Launched June 1 1918


1. USS WARD Destroyer No. 139
   Commissioned July 24 1918
   
   
2. USS WARD DD-139
   Designated (DD) July 17 1920
   Decommissioned July 21 1921
   Recommissioned January 15 1941
   
   
3. USS WARD APD-16
   Reclassified High-Speed Transport (APD) February 6 1943
   Irreparably damaged (Kamikaze) December 7 1944 off Leyte
   Scuttled (Gunfire) from USS O'BRIEN DD-725
   
   Struck from Naval Register January 20 1945

 

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. DD-139 Covers Page 1    (1941-43)
2. APD-16 Covers Page 1    (1943-44)

 

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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2nd Commissioning January 15 1941 to December 7 1944

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r

1941-03-31

As DD-139
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r

1941-03-31

AS DD-139
First Day Postal Service
Cachet by George Neumann, cachet sponsor - Frederick Horton

 

Locy Type FDPS 3r

1941-03-31

As DD-139
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9x

1941-03-31

As DD-139
First Day postal Service

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-07-23

As APD-16

 

Locy Type 3r (A-BTB)

1941-05-19

As DD-139

 

Locy Type 3z

1943-01-10

As DD-139
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 9v

1943-10-10 to 1943-10-18

As APD-16
Mark from back of cover

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USPS Pictorial Trenton NJ

1991-12-07

No Image

Commemorative cover for the 50th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack and the USS Ward's "First Shot".

 

Other Information

WARD earned 9 Battle Stars for WWII service

WARD was the On Duty Destroyer at Pearl Harbor December 7 1941, and sank a Japanese mini-sub an hour before the attack began just outside the harbor entrance

In a twist of fate, WARD was heavily damaged (Kamikaze) at Leyte December 7 1944 exactly three years after Pearl Harbor, and was sunk by gunfire from USS O'BRIEN DD-725 under Command of William Outerbridge...The WARD's Skipper on December 7 1941

NAMESAKE - Commander James Harmon Ward (September 25 1806 – June 27 1861)
Ward was the first Officer of the United States Navy killed during the American Civil War

 

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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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