ROCHE DE 197
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 October 21 1943 - Launched and Christened January 9 1944 |
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 (1945)
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 |
Date From to Date To |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
|
Kearny NJ |
1944-01-09 |
 |
 |
Twin launching with USS RINEHART DE-196
|
Locy Type |
1944-11-22 |
 |
 |
Roughly opened Official Mail
|
Locy Type |
1945-11-03 |
 |
 |
Reverse of a cover, probably a number 10 penalty envelope. It bears two imprints of ROCHE's Locy Type 9# postmark on the envelope flaps dated 3 November 1945, indicative of registered mail. Additionally, on the flap is another Type 9# postmark, Navy Number 13765 also dated 3 November 1945. A final postal marking dated 10 November 1945 from New York Reg'y Div [Registry Division] in on the rear flap and overlaps the Branch Number 13765 postmark.
Other Information
ROCHE earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal during her Naval career.
NAMESAKE - David John Roche (December 2 1918 - June 4 1942)
Roche enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve as Seaman second class November 13 1939. He was appointed Aviation Cadet effective February 15 1940, designated Naval Aviator (heavier-than-air), October 14, and became an Ensign, USNR, effective October 21 1940. Following training at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., he was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 3 and reported for duty on December 1. He was officially reported missing in action as of June 4 1942, when the plane he was piloting was shot down in the Battle of Midway. For pressing home his torpedo attack on Japanese naval units in the face of tremendous antiaircraft fire and overwhelming fighter opposition, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross
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