THORNHILL DE 195
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 October 7 1943 - Launched December 30 1943 |
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).
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.
- Covers Page 1 (1945)
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.
>>> 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 |
|---|
|
Locy Type |
1945-09-19 |
 |
 |
Note:
Other Information
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
NAMESAKE - Leonard W. Thornhill USN (August 17 1915 - May 8 1942)
Thornhill was appointed to the Naval Academy on June 19 1934. He graduated on June 2 1938, and was commissioned an Ensign. After serving at sea, he was transferred to Pensacola for flight training. Thornhill received his naval aviator's wings on January 23 1941 and soon thereafter reported for duty at the Naval Air Station at Opa-Locka, Fla. Following another assignment ashore at San Diego, Calif., Thornhill joined carrier-based Torpedo Squadron (VT) 2 on August 13 1941. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Thornhill served with his ship, USS LEXINGTON CV-2, during the first month of the war, patrolling the Johnston-Palmyra-Oahu triangle against possible enemy incursions. In February and March, he participated in the carrier's offensive patrols in the Coral Sea and in the attacks on Japanese installations at Salamaua and Lae located on the northern coast of New Guinea. Early May found Lexington patrolling the Coral Sea after two weeks of upkeep in Pearl Harbor. Thornhill piloted one of the 12 TBD-1 torpedo bombers launched during mid-morning on 7 May to seek out and destroy Japanese forces converging on the Australian base at Port Moresby. At 1135, VT-2 encountered the light carrier SHOHO and immediately launched a well coordinated attack in conjunction with Bombing Squadron (VB) 2. All 12 planes made their runs and drops successfully and without loss to themselves. The "Devastators" claimed nine hits from 12 drops, one of which was credited to Lt. (jg.) Thornhill. The coordinated attacks of VT-2 and VB-2 sent SHOHO to the bottom, the first enemy carrier sunk by American forces in World War II. The following day, during the second phase of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Thornhill went aloft with VT-2 at 0910 in search of the two remaining Japanese carriers, SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU. Sometime after 1100, they found their target. The attack ended just eight minutes later, and VT-2 began the flight home claiming five hits on SHOKAKU, all of which proved later to be wishful thinking. Only the dive bombers succeeded in damaging the enemy carrier. During the return flight, VT-2 planes began to run low on fuel as a result of their drawn-out search earlier that morning. All planes cut back power in order to make the flight most economically. Even so, Lt. (jg.) Thornhill could not make it. His "Devastator" ran out of fuel some 20 miles short of home, and he had to ditch in the ocean. Though a destroyer went to their rescue, Thornhill and his crew perished at sea. For his contribution to the destruction of Shoho carried out with ". . . complete disregard for his own personal safety . . .," Lt. (jg.) Thornhill was awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart posthumously
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.
Copyright 2024 Naval Cover Museum