HELENA PG 9

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.

Wilmington Class Gunboat Keel Laid October 11 1894 - Launched January 30 1896 USS HELENA Gunboat No. 9 Commissioned July 8 1897 - Decommissioned April 19 1905 Recommissioned July 16 1906 - Decommissioned May 27 1916 Recommissioned August 15 1917 USS HELENA PG-9 Designated (PG) July 17 1920 Decommissioned August 10 1921 Recommissioned July 10 1922 Placed in Reduced Commission June 29 1929 Decommissioned May 27 1932 Struck from U.S. Navy list May 27 1932 Sold July 7 1934 for scrapping

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    (1899-1932)

 

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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1st Commissioning July 8 1897 to April 19 1905

 

Philippine, Islands Military Station Duplex

1899-11-21 to 1899-12-24

Note:

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2nd Commissioning July 16 1906 to May 27 1916

 

Locy Type 1 (C)

1909-10-08

Postcard use

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3rd Commissioning August 15 1917 to August 10 1921

 

Locy Type 1z

1918-11-21

Real Picture postcard from the Philippines.

 

Censor Marking

1918-11-21

Real Picture postcard from the Philippines.

 

Picture postcard Philippines

1918-11-21

Note: Caption reads "PUBLIC VEHICLES FOR HIRE. 2A."

 

Locy Type 3 (BC) "(Unreadable) / CHINA"

1917-03-05

Picture postcard from Amoy China. Additional postmark from Plainview TX dated April 9 1917.

 

Picture postcard Amoy China

1917-03-05

Note:

 

Locy Type 3 (BC) "CANTON / CHINA"

1918-09-21

Picture postcard from Canton China

 

Picture postcard Canton China

1918-09-21

Note:

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4th Commissioning July 10 1922 to May 27 1932

 

Locy Type 3 "CANTON / CHINA" USCS catalog Illustration H-24a

1930-12-01

Sailor's mail.

 

Locy Type 3b (A-OOX) "CANTON / CHINA"

1931-06-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 9

1927-02-13

Note:

 

Locy Type 3b (A-OOX) "CAVITE / P.I."

1932-05-27

Last Day of Commissioning - Unlisted

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US Postal Agency Duplex Shanghai China

1913-06-10

No Image

Incoming mail on Palace Hotel stationary.

 

Other Information

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Helena, Montana.

Five ships of the US Navy have borne the name HELENA - USS Helena PG-9, USS Helena CL-50, USS Helena CL-113 (cancelled while under construction 1944), USS Helena CA-75 and USS Helena SSN-725.

 

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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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