FRANCIS SCOTT KEY SSBN 657

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.

Benjamin Franklin Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Keel Laid December 5 1964 - Launched April 23 1965 USS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY SSBN-657 Commissioned December 3 1966 - Decommissioned September 21 1993 Struck from the Naval Register September 21 1993 Disposed of through the NPSSR Program September 1 1995

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. Covers Page 1     (1964-94)

 

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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No Postmarks Reported

 

USPO Machine Cancel Groton CT

1964-12-05

N/A

Keel Laying, cachet by Morris W. Beck

 

USPO Machine Cancel Groton CT

1965-04-23

N/A

Launching, cachet by Morris W. Beck

 

USPO Machine Cancel New London CT

1966-12-03

N/A

Commissioning, cachet by General Dynamics Electric Boat Division
Contributed by RADM Stanley Earl Bump, Commanding Officer, Francis Scott Key SSBN-657, 1971-75.

 

USPS Type 9 "Naval Base Branch" Bremerton WA

1994-10-18

N/A

Scrapping program is started for the USS Swordfish SSN-579, USS Seadragon SSN-584, USS Sturgeon SSN-637, USS Francis Scott Key SSBN-657 and USS Benjamin Franklin SSBN-640 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard Bremerton WA
Cachet by Tom Armstrong

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Named for Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet who wrote the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry", which became the words to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".

 

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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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