WHALE SS 239

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.

Gato Class Submarine Keel Laid June 28 1941 - Launched March 14 1942 USS WHALE SS-239 Commissioned June 1 1942 - Decommissioned January 5 1947 Laid up in Atlantic Reserve Fleet, New London Recommissioned October 22 1956 - Decommissioned September 15 1957 Laid up in Atlantic Reserve Fleet Struck from the Naval Register March 1 1960 Sold September 29 1960 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. Covers Page 1    (1942)

 

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

 

MARE ISLAND STATION Machine Vallejo, Calif.

1942-03-14 to 1942-03-14

Aden Launching Cachet

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NO WHALE POSTMAKS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME

DATE FROM to DATE TO

Note:

 

Other Information

WHALE earned 11 battle stars during World War II

Credited with sinking...
The 3559-ton Japanese Collier IWASHIRO MARU, January 13 1943 off Kwajalein
The 9816-ton Japanese Troop Transport HEIYO MARU, January 17 1943 off Truk
The 6486-ton Japanese Troop Transport KENYO MARU, March 22 1943 off Saipan
The 3580-ton Japanese Auxiliary Gunboat SHOEI MARU, May 26 1943 off Mariana Islands
The 7148-ton Japanese Ammunition Ship NARUTO MARU, August 8 1943 off Mariana Islands
The 5869-ton Japanese Transport DENMARK MARU, January 16 1944 off Okinawa
The 4865-ton Japanese Troop Transport TARUSHIMA MARU, January 16 1944 off Okinawa
The 5401-ton Japanese Transport HONAN MARU, April 9 1944 off Kyushu
The 2857-ton Japanese Transport SHINROKU MARU, June 7 1944 off Bonin Islands
The 10241-ton Japanese Tanker AKANE MARU, October 6 1944 off Luzon
Four Japanese Trawlers, December 5 1944 off Nakano Jima

NAMESAKE - An extremely large, aquatic mammal which is fishlike in form

 

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