GRAY FF 1054

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.

Knox Class Guided Missile Destroyer Keel Laid 19 November 1966 - Launched 3 November 1967 USS GRAY DE-1054 Commissioned 4 April 1970 USS GRAY FF-1054 Reclassified Frigate (FF) 30 June 1975 Decommissioned 29 June 1991 Struck from Naval Register 11 January 1995 Sold 25 July 2001 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 name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). 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. USS Gray DE-1054 / FF-1054 Covers Page 1     (1970-1974)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. 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	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type FDC 2(n+) (USS,"DE")

1970-04-04

DE-1054. First Day in Commission, cachet by Morris W. Beck

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (DE,USS)

1971-04-04

DE-1054. 5th Anniversary, cover by Frederick L. Karcher

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS, DE)

1974-11-06

DE-1054

 

Locy Type 2t(n+u) (USS, FF)

1976-12-03

FF-1054. Ships cachet. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (FF,USS)

1978-06-10

FF-1054. Official Ships Cachet, Port Visit to Seattle WA

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+) (FF,USS)

1979-09-12

FF-1054. First Day of Use - New Cachet, cover by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

Locy Type 9ef(n+u) (USS,"DE")

1976-12-03

FF-1054. Ships cachet. From the Bob Govern collection.

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u)

1978-06-08

FF-1054. Official Ships Cachet, Port Visit to Seattle WA

 

Other Information

USS GRAY earned the Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (3 awards), the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal w/ 3 Campaign stars, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - "Ross Franklin Gray (1 August 1920 - 27 February 1945) was born in Marvel Valley, Alabama. After leaving school and working as a carpenter, Gray enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve from that state in July 1942 and underwent recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina. He then joined the Twenty-Third Marines, Fourth Marine Division. In Spring 1943, he was promoted to Private First Class and transferred to Company A, First Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marines. Following participation in the Marshalls and Marianas Campaigns in 1944, Gray was promoted to Sergeant and received training in the laying and clearing of minefields.
    With his unit, he next took part in the bitter battle for Iwo Jima. On 21 February 1945, northeast of Airfield Number One, Gray cleared a path through heavily mined area then, while continually under fire, attacked and destroyed six Japanese emplacements with satchel charges. As the intense fight for Iwo Jima continued, Sergeant Gray was killed by an enemy shell on 27 February 1945. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life" during the 21 February action, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Ross F. Gray is buried at Ada Chapel Cemetery, West Blocton, Alabama." {DANFS}

 

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