BELKNAP APD 34

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.

Clemson Class Destroyer
Keel Laid July 31 1918 - Launched January 14 1919


1. USS BELKNAP Destroyer No. 251
   Commissioned April 28 1919
   
   
2. USS BELKNAP DD-251
   Designated (DD) July 17 1920
   Decommissioned June 28 1922
   
   
3. USS BELKNAP AVD-8
   Converted to Seaplane Tender Destroyer (AVD) August 2 1940
   Recommissioned November 22 1940
   
   
4. USS BELKNAP DD-251
   Reverted to (DD) December 1 1943
   
   
5. USS BELKNAP APD-34
   Converted to High-speed Transport (APD) June 22 1944
   Damaged beyond repair by Kamikaze in Lingayen Gulf January 11 1945
   7 of her crew were lost and remain on duty
   Decommissioned August 4 1945
   
   Struck from Naval Register August 13 1945
   Sold November 30 1945 and broken up 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. Belknap Covers Page 1     (1940-44)

 

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 --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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2nd Commissioning November 22 1940 to August 4 1945

 

Locy Type FDPS 3 "FIRST DAY / SERVICE"

1940-11-25

As AVD-8
First Day of Postal Service
Al Cohen

 

Locy Type 3 (A-BBT)

1944-10-03

As APD-34
Censored wartime (WWII) use

 

Locy Type 3z (BTT)

1941-11-06

As AVD-8
Censored pre-wartime (WWII) use
USCS Catalog of Naval Postmarks lists Type 3z as TTT, clearly this marking is BTT

 

Locy Type 9v

1941-11-06

As AVD-8
Censored pre-wartime (WWII) use

 

Other Information

BELKNAP earned 3 Battle Stars for WWII service

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - Presidential Unit Citation - American Defense Service Medal (with Destroyer clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Medal

NAMESAKE - George Eugene Belknap (1832 - April 7 1903)
Belknap was appointed a Midshipman in 1847. He commanded CANONICUS during the attacks on Fort Fisher, N.C., and Hartford during the Formosa Expedition of 1867. Appointed Rear Admiral February 12 1889, he retired January 22 1894. Rear Admiral Belknap died at Key West, Fla., April 7 1903

 

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