RICKETTS DE 254
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.
Keel Laid March 16 1943 - Launched May 10 1943 |
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.
- Covers Page 1 (DATE RANGE)
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 |
Postmark Date |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
|
Locy Type |
1946-01-30 |
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Note:
Other Information
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - WWII Victory Medal
NAMESAKE - Milton E. Ricketts USN (August 5 1913 - May 8 1942)
Ricketts was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1931. He graduated and was commissioned Ensign June 6 1935, and for the next 2 years, served in USS RANGER CV-4. Ricketts next assisted in the fitting out of USS YORKTOWN CV-5 and he thus became a plank owner of the carrier when she commissioned September 30 1937. He served in her through the anxious prewar years, and when America entered the war, he took part in her raids in the Pacific in February and March 1942. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, YORKTOWN came under severe Japanese bombing on May 8 1942. Ricketts was directing the engineering repair party when a bomb passed through and exploded directly beneath the compartment in which he and his crew were working. All of the men were either killed, wounded, or stunned. Ricketts, mortally wounded, worked alone to open the valve to a nearby fire plug. He succeeded in leading out part of the hose and directing a stream of water into the fire before he fell dead beside it. His courageous action undoubtedly prevented the rapid spread of the fire to serious proportions, and was recognized by the posthumous award of the Medal of Honor
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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