KING DD 242
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.
Keel Laid 28 April 1919 - Launched 14 October 1920 Recommissioned 13 June 1932 - Decommissioned 21 September 1938 Recommissioned 26 September 1939 - Decommissioned 23 October 1945 Stricken 16 November 1945 Sold 29 September 1946 and broken up for scrap |
 Commander Frank Ragan King, USN |
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.
- USS King DD-242 Covers Page 1 (1927-1943)
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 |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
1st Commissioning 16 December 1920 to 10 March 1931
|
Locy Type 3r |
1927-02-02 |
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Registered, Official Business cut-square
2nd Commissioning 13 June 1932 to 21 September 1938
|
Locy Type |
1932-06-13 |
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First Day of Commissioning
|
Locy Type |
1935-12-16 |
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15th Birthday, cachet by Ted Harrington
|
Locy Type |
1937-12-16 |
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17th Anniversary of Commissioning, Cachet by Frederick Horton
|
Locy Type |
1938-09-21 |
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Last Day of Commissioning. Cachet by Al Cohen
3rd Commissioning 26 September 1939 to 23 October 1945
|
Locy Type |
1941-09-25 |
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Note:
|
Locy Type |
1943-04-25 |
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Censored WWII use.
Other Information
USS KING earned the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ one battle star and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.
NAMESAKE: Commander Frank Ragan King, USN (15 October 1884 – 12 July 1919). Born in Montevallo, Alabama, 15 October 1884, King was appointed midshipman at the Naval Academy 06 May 1903 and graduated 11 February 1907. After serving as passed midshipman on USS Milwaukee and USS Pennsylvania, he was commissioned Ensign 12 February 1909. Serving as such on USS Princeton and USS Pennsylvania, King served as Lieutenant (jg) on USS Oregon, at the Naval Academy, and USS Wyoming, and as Lieutenant on USS Wyoming. Promoted to Lt. Commander, he served on USS Henderson, and attained the rank of Commander 21 September 1918 aboard USS Arizona. Commander King assumed command of the trawler USS Richard Buckley 07 July 1919 during minesweeping operations in the North Sea. On 12 July 1919 his ship struck a mine and went down in only seven minutes. During the crisis King exerted himself to see that all of his crew might be saved. King's feeling for his men was evidenced by the fact that his final act before going down with his ship was to strap his own life preserver to a stunned sailor and help him over the side. Commander King received the Distinguished Service Medal for his valor.
The ships sponsor was Mrs. Allene A. King, widow of Cmdr. King.
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