Type F Common Designs
Certain styles of non-standard postmarks appear again and again in ships. All are classified as Type F, usually because they were not issued through government channels. There are 14 primary styles of these same-design postmarks and each is given a Common Design (CD) number for easy reference. The first set of Common Designs (CD-1 to CD-9) have the ship's name in the dial. The second set (CD-Z1 to CD-Z6) are variant z cancels with U.S. Navy in the dial instead of the ship's name.
Note that CD-3 is actually a Fake postmark rather than a Type F and is therefore not listed here. See Fake Common Designs for more information.
For a full description and complete list of all Common Design postmarks, see the Catalog of United States Naval Postmarks published by the Universal Ship Cancellation Society.
CD-1
Known as the "North Bay Stamp Club" postmarks. Similar to a Type 3 but created by Roy H. Sherman, secretary of the North Bay Stamp Club in Vallejo, Calif. It had slots at the bottom into which rubber letters could be inserted to spell the name of a ship. Used on sixteen different ships, mostly in 1932 and 1933, but occasionally up until 1936. There are two slightly different varieties of this cancel: (CD-1) letters spaced far from the circle of the dial; and (CD-1a) letters spaced close to the dial. Killer bar location is frequently Mare Island, California, although commemorative wording is also used. A small open star is often found in the killers
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-1)
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-1a)
CD-2
Known as the "USCS Chapter #1" postmarks. In 1935, John Gill of the Old Ironsides Chapter (USCS Chapter #1) in Boston provided a cancel for the commissioning of USS MacDONOUGH DD-351. Later Gill cut out the date and killer bar wording so the cancel could be used on regular mail and later removed the name as well to make a variable wording cancel. This postmark was used on 55 ships between May and December of 1935
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-2)
CD-4
Known as the "Lines of Rope" postmark, CD-4 was made by collectors in the Boston, Mass. area for the commissionings of four different ships during the month of March, 1946.
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-4)
CD-5
Known as the "Philadelphia" postmarks. Made by a collector in Philadelphia in the mid-1970's but was only used with two ships.
Example needed.
CD-6
Known as the "Small Letters" postmarks. A set of postmarks similar to the standard Type 2-1 and Type 9-1. The Type 2-1 style postmark (CD-6) is smaller than normal Type 2-1 postmarks and has much smaller lettering. The Type 9-1 style postmark (CD-6a) is slightly larger than a normal Type 9-1 and has lettering similar to the CD-6 postmark.
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-6)
Example needed for Type F (CD-6a).
CD-7
Known as the "OPSAIL '80" postmarks. Made by collectors in the Boston, Mass. area for OPSAIL '80 and used aboard nine Navy ships that visited for the event.
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-7)
CD-8
Known as the "Tall Ships '82" postmarks. Used aboard six Navy ships that visited for the event.
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-8)
CD-9 (Obsolete)
A CD-9 postmark is similar to a Type 12 postmark except that it has 4 killer bars. The name of the ship (and other possible data) appears between the double outer circle of the cancel and the date is in a straight line across the center of the dial. The CD-9 classification was renumbered to Type 13 following review by the Postmark Committee of the USCS on July 25 2008.
The following postmark was initially classified as Type F (CD-9), now Type 13
CD-10
The CD-10 postmark is a pictorial postmark used to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Great White Fleet cruise around the world. Initially scheduled to start on February 22 2008, the first reported use in the fleet wasn't until April 2008. A few ships did not change the date in their postmarks to reflect the current date so there are reported February 22 2008 dates used although they are considered backdated. Red and Black ink have been used. See Great White Fleet for more examples.
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-10)
CD-11
The CD-11 postmark is a pictorial postmark used to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation in 2011. Used on all the Nimitz Class Carriers, CVN-68 thru CVN-77. Black ink was used on all ships, however, the USS Theodore Roosevelt also used a red ink.
The following postmark is classified as Type F (CD-11)
CD-Z1
Known as the "Asiatic Fleet Type Fz" postmarks. A set of four postmarks with large lettering. The basic postmark (CD-Z1) has three long killer bars spaced far apart, touching the dial. The Type Fvz (CD-Z1a) has no bars, with "REGISTERED" at the bottom of the dial. The Type Fxz (CD-Z1b) is similar, with "PARCEL POST" at the bottom. A variant (CD-Z1c) has been reported from one ship (ALDEN) which appears to be either the Registered or Parcel Post version with the special purpose wording cut out. Used from the summer of 1941 on by ships of the old Asiatic Fleet.
The following postmark is classified as Type Fz (CD-Z1)
Example needed for Type Fz (CD-Z1a)
Example needed for Type Fz (CD-Z1b)
Example needed for Type Fz (CD-Z1c)
CD-Z2
CD-Z2 postmarks look like a Type 3z and have serifed letters, three short thin bars, and medium spacing.
The following postmark is classified as Type Fz (CD-Z2)
CD-Z3
CD-Z2 postmarks look like a Type 3z but have "U S NAVY" very widely spaced at the bottom of the dial, and the top completely blank. Three heavy killer bars.
The following postmark is classified as Type Fz (CD-Z3)
CD-Z4
CD-Z4 is similar to CD-Z3, but "US NAVY" is closer together and there are four medium killer bars. Used by seven large ships between 1941 and 1944.
Example needed for Type Fz (CD-Z4)
CD-Z5
CD-Z5 has "U S NAVY" at the top of the dial and three very heavy killer bars of equal length close to the dial. Date is in a straight line across the center of the dial.
The following postmark is classified as Type Fz (CD-Z3)
CD-Z6
CD-Z6 looks similar to a Type 9xz, for Parcel Post use, but was almost certainly obtained from a non-standard source, thus qualifying as a Type F postmark.
Example needed for Type Fxz (CD-Z6)
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