SAN FRANCISCO CM 2
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.
- San Francisco Class Protected Cruiser
- USS SAN FRANCISCO Protected Cruiser No. 5 Commissioned 15 November 1890 - Decommissioned 25 October 1898
- USS SAN FRANCISCO Mine Layer No. 2 Recommissioned 29 November 1911 - Decommissioned 6 June 1916
- USS SAN FRANCISCO CM-2 Designated (CM) 17 July 1920
- USS TAHOE CM-2 Renamed while in reserve
- USS YOSEMITE CM-2 Renamed 1 January 1931 while in reserve
Keel Laid 14 August 1888 - Launched 26 October 1889
Recommissioned 2 January 1902 - Decommissioned 31 December 1904
Converted to Mine Layer June 1908
Recommissioned 18 October 1916
Decommissioned 24 December 1921
Struck from Naval Register 8 June 1937
Sold 20 April 1939 for scrap
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 San Francisco Covers Page 1 (1895-1915,2003)
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.
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Postmark Type |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
1st Commissioning 15 November 1890 to 25 October 1898
|
Ohio CDS |
1892-12-31 |
 |
 |
Incoming mail to USS SAN FRANCISCO at Montevideo, Uruguay...Forwarded to Norfolk
Back stamped Montevideo February 8 1893...Rio De Janeiro, Brazil February 13...
New York January 3...Washington D.C. March 7...New York March 17...Norfolk March 19
|
Portsmouth N.H. duplex |
1895-06-16 |
 |
 |
Incoming mail to Paymaster Joseph Foster at London, forward to Kiel, Germany
Back stamped New York June 7...London June 17...Kiel June 18
3rd Commissioning 29 November 1911 to 6 June 1916
|
Locy Type 2 |
1912-06-25 |
 |
 |
Mine Layer No. 2. From the Jim Myerson collection.
|
Locy Type |
1914-07-28 |
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 |
Mine Layer No. 2. From the Jim Myerson collection.
4th Commissioning 18 October 1916 to 24 December 1921
|
Locy Type |
1917-01-16 |
 |
 |
CM-2. From the Bob Govern collection.
|
Locy Type |
1920-11-16 |
 |
 |
CM-2.
|
Locy Type |
1917-02-09 |
 |
 |
CM-2. From the Jim Myerson collection.
Other Information
USS SAN FRANCISCO earned the Navy Expeditionary Medal (4 awards), the Spanish Campaign Medal, the Mexican Service Medal and the World War I Victory Medal w/ Mine Layer Clasp during her Naval career.
NAMESAKE - Named for the city of San Francisco, CA.
The ships sponsor was Miss Edith W. Benham, daughter of Commodore Andrew E. K. Benham, Commandant, Mare Island, CA, Navy Yard.
Three ships of the US Navy have borne the name SAN FRANCISCO - USS San Francisco Cruiser No. 5, USS San Francisco CA-38 and USS San Francisco SSN-711.
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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