ELECTRA AKA 4

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 (Date unknown) as Maritime Commission type (C2-T) hull METEOR
Acquired by U.S. Navy April 16 1941
Launched November 18 1941


1. USS ELECTRA AK-21
   Commissioned Cargo Ship (AK) March 17 1942
   
   
2. USS ELECTRA AKA-4
   Reclassified Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) February 1 1943
   Decommissioned March 19 1946
   Struck from Naval Register (Date unknown)
   Transferred to Maritime Commission
   Reacquired by U.S. Navy October 16 1951
   Recommissioned May 3 1952 - Decommissioned May 13 1955
   
   Struck from Naval Register July 1 1961
   Returned to Maritime Commission October 1 1962
   Sold May 7 1974 to Van Komodo International Ltd. 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 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. Electra Covers Page 1    (1942-54)

 

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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Post Office Established March 18 1942 - Disestablished March 6 1946

 

Locy Type FDC P Mar 17, 1942 "U.S.S. / ELECTRA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. E-13

1942-03-17

As AK-21
First Day of Commission

 

Locy Type FDC P Mar 17, 1942 "U.S.S. / ELECTRA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. E-13

1942-03-17

As AK-21
First Day of Commission

 

Locy Type 3z (BBT)

1943-04-06

As AKA-4
Censored wartime (WWII) V-MAIL use

 

Locy Type 9vz

1942-03-23 to 1942-03-26

As AK-21
Mark from back of cover

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Post Office Reestablished April 14 1952 - Disestablished February 25 1955

 

Locy Type FDC 2r May 3, 1952

1952-05-03

As AKA-4
First Day in Commission

 

Locy Type 2r

1952-05-19

As AKA-4

 

Locy Type 9efu

1954-07-21

As AKA-4

 

Other Information

ELECTRA earned 7 Battle Stars for WWII
* North African occupation
Algeria-Morocco landings (Safi), November 8-11 1942
* Marshall Islands operation
Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, January 31 to February 8 1944
Occupation of Eniwetok Atoll, February 17-25 1943
* Marianas operation
Capture and occupation of Saipan, June 15-26 1944
* Western Caroline Islands operation
Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, September 6 to October 14 1944
* Leyte operation
Leyte landings, October 13-30 and November 19-29 1944
* Luzon operation
Lingayen Gulf landings, January 9-17 1945
* Iwo Jima operation
Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, March 9-15 1945

ELECTRA received the following awards during her Naval career: American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (w/ 6 Battle stars) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal

NAMESAKE - In Greek mythology, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Also, a star.

 

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