PRAIRIE AD 5

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.

Built 1890 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, PA


1. EL SOL (Commercial Service)
Initial owner listed in Lloyd's Register of Shipping as "Pacific Improvement Co."
Acquired by the Southern Pacific Co c1892-93 for their Atlantic Steamship Line's Morgan Line
Official Number: 136164
Purchased by US Navy 6 April 1898


2. USS PRAIRIE (Auxiliary Cruiser)
Commissioned 8 April 1898 - Decommissioned 15 March 1899
Placed in Reserve Commission 23 March 1899 - Decommissioned 18 February 1901


3. USS PRAIRIE (Training Ship)
Recommissioned 9 November 1901 - Decommissioned 14 June 1905


4. USS PRAIRIE (Transport)
Recommissioned 26 September 1906


5. USS PRAIRIE (Destroyer Tender)
Converted to Destroyer Tender 1917


6. USS PRAIRIE AD-5
Designated (AD) 17 July 1920
Decommissioned 22 November 1922
Struck from Naval Register 22 November 1922

Sold 22 June 1933 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. USS Prairie AD-5 Covers Page 1    (1913-1918)

 

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 Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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4th Commissioning 26 September 1906 to 22 November 1922

 

Locy Type 1

1909-07-18

Transport. Picture postcard from Newport RI

 

Locy Type 1

1909-07-18

Transport. Picture postcard from Newport RI

 

Locy Type 3 (AC) "NEWPORT / NEWS VA"

1913-10-10

Transport

 

Locy Type F USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. P-88

1918-05-07

Destroyer Tender. Censored WWI use

 

Other Information

USS PRAIRIE earned the Navy Expeditionary Service Medal, the Spanish Campaign Medal, the Cuban Pacification Medal, the Mexican Service Medal, the Haiti Campaign Medal, the Dominican Campaign Medal and the World War I Victory Medal w/ Mobile Base Clasp during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - A grassland.

 

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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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