SPROSTON DD 577

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.

Fletcher Class Destroyer Keel Laid 1 April 1942 - Launched 31 August 1942 USS SPROSTON DD-577 Commissioned 19 May 1943 - Decommissioned 18 January 1946 USS SPROSTON DDE-577 Reclassified Escort Destroyer (DDE) March 26 1949 Recommissioned 15 September 1950 USS SPROSTON DD-577 Reverted to Destroyer (DD) 30 June 1962 Decommissioned 30 September 1968 Struck from Naval Register 1 October 1968 Sold 15 December 1971 and broken up 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).

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1. USS Sproston DD-577 / DDE-577 Covers Page 1     (1943-1956)

 

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.
 
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Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Commissioning 19 May 1943 to 18 January 1946

 

Locy Type 3z

1945-10-27

DD-577

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2nd Commissioning 15 September 1950 to 30 September 1968

 

Locy Type FDPS 2

1951-01-05

DDE-577. First Day of Postal Service

 

Locy Type FDPS 9efu

1951-01-05

DDE-577. First Day of Postal Service

 

Locy Type 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. S-60

1951-01-27

DDE-577

 

Locy Type 2 USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. S-60a

1956-02-11

DDE-577

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DD,USS)

1966-08-25

DD-577. Apollo AS 202 US Navy Recovery Force. Cachet by Morris W. Beck

 

Locy Type 9efu

1951-03-22

DDE-577. From the back of this cover. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 9efu ("USS" omitted)

1956-05-31

N/A

DDE-577. Proof strike on piece.

 

Other Information

USS SPROSTON earned 5 battle stars for her World War II service, 1 for her Korean service, and 3 for her Vietnamese service.

NAMESAKE - Lieutenant John G. Sproston, USN
Sproston was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1846. He served on the Pacific Station during the war with Mexico. During the Civil War, he served as Commanding Officer of POWHATAN and as Executive Officer of SENNECA. On November 1 1861, during the battle for Port Royal, S.C., Sproston personally fired many of the 11-inch guns on board SENNECA as the crew was new and untrained. Lt. Sproston was killed on June 8 1862 while on a boat expedition to destroy a Confederate Privateer in the St. John's River, Fla.

Two ships of the US Navy have been named in his honor - USS Sproston DD-173 and USS Sproston DD-577.

The ships sponsor was Mrs. Aline G. Darst.

 

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