WARD APD 16
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.
- Wickes Class Destroyer
- USS WARD Destroyer No. 139
Commissioned July 24 1918
- USS WARD DD-139
Designated (DD) July 17 1920
Decommissioned July 21 1921
Recommissioned January 15 1941
- USS WARD APD-16
Reclassified High-Speed Transport (APD) February 6 1943
Irreparably damaged (Kamikaze) December 7 1944 off Leyte
Scuttled (Gunfire) from USS O'BRIEN DD-725
Struck from Naval Register January 20 1945
Keel Laid May 15 1918 as COWELL
Name changed May 20 1918
Launched June 1 1918
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.
- DD-139 Covers Page 1 (1941-43)
- APD-16 Covers Page 1 (1943-44)
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 |
Date From to Date To |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
2nd Commissioning January 15 1941 to December 7 1944
|
Locy Type |
1941-03-31 |
 |
 |
As DD-139
First Day Postal Service
|
Locy Type |
1941-03-31 |
 |
 |
AS DD-139
First Day Postal Service
Cachet by George Neumann, cachet sponsor - Frederick Horton
|
Locy Type |
1941-03-31 |
 |
 |
As DD-139
First Day Postal Service
|
Locy Type |
1941-03-31 |
 |
 |
As DD-139
First Day postal Service
|
Locy Type |
1944-07-23 |
 |
 |
As APD-16
|
Locy Type |
1941-05-19 |
 |
 |
As DD-139
|
Locy Type |
1943-01-10 |
 |
 |
As DD-139
Censored wartime (WWII) use
|
Locy Type |
1943-10-10 |
 |
 |
As APD-16
Mark from back of cover
|
USPS Pictorial |
1991-12-07 |
 |
No Image |
Commemorative cover for the 50th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Attack and the USS Ward's "First Shot".
Other Information
WARD earned 9 Battle Stars for WWII service
WARD was the On Duty Destroyer at Pearl Harbor December 7 1941, and sank a Japanese mini-sub an hour before the attack began just outside the harbor entrance
In a twist of fate, WARD was heavily damaged (Kamikaze) at Leyte December 7 1944 exactly three years after Pearl Harbor, and was sunk by gunfire from USS O'BRIEN DD-725 under Command of William Outerbridge...The WARD's Skipper on December 7 1941
NAMESAKE - Commander James Harmon Ward (September 25 1806 – June 27 1861)
Ward was the first Officer of the United States Navy killed during the American Civil War
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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