BIRMINGHAM CL 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.
- Chester Class Scout Cruiser
- USS BIRMINGHAM Scout Cruiser 2
Commissioned 11 April 1908 - Decommissioned 30 June 1911
Recommissioned 15 December 1911 - Decommissioned 20 April 1912
Recommissioned 19 May 1912 - Decommissioned 11 July 1912
Recommissioned 1 October 1913
- USS BIRMINGHAM CL-2
Reclassified Light Cruiser (CL) 17 July 1920
Decommissioned 1 December 1923
Sold 13 May 1930 for scrap
Keel Laid 14 August 1905 - Launched 29 May 1907
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 Birmingham CL-2 Covers Page 1 (1908-18)
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 |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
1st Commissioning April 11 1908 to June 30 1911
|
Locy Type 1 |
1908-12-01 |
 |
 |
As Scout Cruiser No. 2. Cambridge Mass. picture postcard
|
Locy Type 1 |
1909-01-01 |
 |
 |
As Scout Cruiser No. 2. New Year's Day picture postcard
|
Locy Type 1 |
1909-07-05 |
 |
 |
As Scout Cruiser No. 2. Year slug is inside the dial. From the Tom Kean collection.
4th Commissioning October 1 1913 to December 1 1923
|
Locy Type |
1917-10-04 |
 |
 |
As Scout Cruiser No. 2. Picture postcard from Tangier, French Morocco. Censor marking shown with postmark.
|
Locy Type |
1917-10-04 |
 |
|
Picture postcard from Tangier, French Morocco. Censor marking shown with postmark.
|
Locy Type |
1923-04-30 |
 |
 |
Courtesy of the Bob Govern collection.
|
Locy Type |
1914-05-16 |
 |
N/A |
Cut Square. R-2 Scarcity code.
|
N/A |
1923-05-03 |
 |
N/A |
Domain of Neptunus Rex certificate.
Other Information
NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Birmingham, Alabama.
Three ships of the US Navy have borne the name BIRMINGHAM - USS Birmingham CL-2, USS Birmingham CL-62 and USS Birmingham SSN-695.
The ships sponsor was Miss Mary Campbell.
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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