THOMPSON DMS 38

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.

Gleaves Class Destroyer Keel Laid September 22 1941 - Launched July 15 1942 USS THOMPSON DD-627 Commissioned July 10 1943 USS THOMPSOM DMS-38 Converted to High-speed Minesweeper (DMS) May 30 1945 Decommissioned May 18 1954 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) May 23 1955, While in reserve Stricken July 1 1971 Sold August 7 1972 to American Ship Dismantlers, Portland, OR for scrap

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. Thompson Covers Page 1     (1944)

 

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

 

Locy Type 2z

1944-06-03

As DD-627
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 2tnu

1948-03-09

Note:

 

Other Information

THOMPSON received 2 battle stars for World War II service and 7 battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for her Korean War service

THOMPSON DMS-38 was used in scenes in the 1954 movie The Caine Mutiny starring Humphrey Bogart

NAMESAKE - Robert Means Thompson USN (March 2 1849 - September 5 1930)
Thompson was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on July 30 1864. Graduating tenth in the class of 1868, Thompson first went to sea in CONTO-COOK in the West Indian Squadron. He later served in FRANKLIN, RICHMOND, and GUARD of the Mediterranean Squadron; as well as in WACHUSETT and at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, R.I. Commissioned Ensign on April 19 1869 and promoted to Master on July 12 1870, he resigned from the Navy on November 18 1871 to study law in his brother's office. After he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1872, he was still not satisfied with his legal training so he studied law at Harvard and graduated from that school in 1874. Thompson subsequently practiced law in Boston and was a member of the Boston Common Council from 1876 to 1878. He later became interested in mining and smelting enterprises. He was an organizer of the Navy Athletic Association and the donor of the Thompson Cup which is awarded to the midshipman who contributes most to the advancement of athletics at the Naval Academy. He also helped to organize the New York Chapter of the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and served as its first president and as a trustee of the Naval Academy Alumni Association at Annapolis, Md. Thompson was president of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and president of the Navy League. He also visited Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government and was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Second Class, by the Emperor. He also received the Order of Gustavus Vasa by the government of Sweden, and the Cross of Commander, Legion of Honor, by the French government. Robert Means Thompson died on September 5 1930 at Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y.

 

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