LIBRA LKA 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.

Arcturus Class Cargo Ship Keel Laid 1941 Launched November 12 1941 as JEAN LYKES Acquired by U.S. Navy December 30 1941 Renamed January 9 1942 USS LIBRA AK-53 Commissioned May 13 1942 USS LIBRA AKA-12 Reclassified Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) February 1 1943 Decommissioned April 19 1948 Recommissioned August 28 1950 - Decommissioned October 6 1955 Redesignated Amphibious Transport (LKA) January 1 1969, While in reserve Struck from Naval Register January 1 1977 Withdrawn from reserve by the U.S. Navy January 20 1984 for stripping Returned to Reserve Fleet July 31 1984 after stripping was completed Scrapped 1985

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 name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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. Libra Covers Page 1     (1943-55)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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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1st Commissioning May 13 1942 to April 19 1948

 

Locy Type 3r

1945-02-02

As AKA-12
Censored sailor's mail

 

Locy Type 3r (used after POD)

1947-06-23

As AKA-12
Post office discontinued May 11, 1946

 

Locy Type 3z

1943-12-07

As AKA-12

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2nd Commissioning August 28 1950 to October 6 1955

 

Locy Type FDPS 2

1950-11-09

As AKA-12
First Day Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2

1951-01-02

As AKA-12

 

Locy Type 2r

1955-01-25

As AKA-12

 

Locy Type 9efu

1951-03-16

As AKA-12

 

Other Information

LIBRA earned the following awards during her Naval career - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 9 Battle stars) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal (1).

NAMESAKE - The seventh sign of the Zodiac; a southern constellation between Virgo and Scorpio.

 

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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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