MERRILL DD 976

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.

Spruance Class Destroyer Keel Laid June 16 1975 - Launched September 1 1976 Christened October 23 1976 USS MERRILL DD-976 Commissioned March 11 1978 - Decommissioned March 26 1998 Struck from Naval Register March 26 1998 Sunk as target August 1 2003

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 Merrill DD-976 Covers Page 1    (1975-98)

 

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	Thumbnail Link To Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

 

Locy Type FDC 2(n+)

1978-03-11

Commissioning Day, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type FDC 9-1(n+u)

1978-03-11

Commissioning Day, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1982-08-06

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS) 1988

1989-08-11

Note:

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (USS) 1991

1993-03-11

Cachet by Gary Rogak

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u) (USS) 1978

1982-08-06

Note:

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u) (USS) 1988

1989-08-11

Mark from back of cover

 

Locy Type LDC 2-1a(n+) (USS)

1998-03-26

Decommissioning, cacheted. From the Thad Kaczkowski collection.

 

Locy Type LDC F

1998-03-26

Decommissioning, cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Rear Admiral Aaron Stanton (Tip) Merrill USN (March 26 1890 - February 28 1961)
Stanton was an Officer in the United States Navy during World War II who led American naval forces during the Solomon Islands campaign as well as the first Admiral to use radar during wartime. For his efforts he received both The Legion of Merit and The Navy Cross.

 

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