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 11 October 1894 - Launched 30 January 1896 USS HELENA Gunboat No. 9 Commissioned 8 July 1897 - Decommissioned 19 April 1905 Recommissioned 16 July 1906 - Decommissioned 27 May 1916 Recommissioned 15 August 1917 USS HELENA PG-9 Designated (PG) 17 July 1920 - Decommissioned 10 August 1921 Recommissioned 10 July 1922 Placed in Reduced Commission 29 June 1929 Decommissioned 27 May 1932 Struck from Naval Register 27 May 1932 Sold 7 July 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. USS Helena PG-9 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	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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1st Commissioning 8 July 1897 to 19 April 1905

 

Mil. Sta. No. 3 Philippine Islands

1899-07-26

N/A

Note:

 

Military Station Duplex Philippine, Islands

1899-11-21

Note:

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2nd Commissioning 16 July 1906 to 27 May 1916

 

Duplex

1908-10-31

N/A

Incoming mail

 

Locy Type 1 (C+)

1909-10-08

Postcard use

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3rd Commissioning 15 August 1917 to 10 August 1921

 

Locy Type 1z

1918-11-21

Real Picture postcard from the Philippines.

 

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

1917-03-05

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

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4th Commissioning July 10 1922 to May 27 1932

 

Locy Type 3 "CANTON / CHINA" USCS Postmark Catalog Illus. 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 LDC 3b (A-OOX) "CAVITE / P.I."

1932-05-27

Last Day of Commissioning - Unlisted

 

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.

The ships sponsor was Miss Agnes Belle Steele, daughter of the mayor of Helena, Montana.

 

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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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