USS BIGELOW DD-942 Naval Cover 1979 German Frigate FGS KOLN F220 Cachet

Item Specifics

Condition

Cover (Postal History)

Stamp Format

Single

Item Description

USS BIGELOW DD-942 Naval Cover 1979 German Frigate FGS KOLN F220 Cachet

It was sent 11 Aug 1979. It was franked with stamp "Olympics".

This cover is in good, but not perfect condition. Please look at the scan and make your own judgement.

Member USCS #10385 (I also earned the stamp collecting merit badge as a boy!). Please contact me if you have specific cover needs. I have thousands for sale, including; navals (USS, USNS, USCGC, Coast Guard, ship, Maritime), military posts, event, APO, hotel, postal history, memoribilia, etc. I offer approvals service with FREE shipping to USA repeat customers.

USS Bigelow (DD-942) was a Forrest Sherman-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The ship was named for Watertender Second Class Elmer Charles Bigelow (1920-1945), who was killed in action extinguishing a magazine fire while serving on board Fletcher during action against enemy Japanese forces off Corregidor in the Philippines on 14 February 1945. Bigelow was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.[1]

Bigelow was built by the Bath Iron Works Corporation at Bath in Maine. The ship was launched by Mrs. Verna B. Perry, mother of Elmer C. Bigelow.[1]

Bigelow was part of Combined Task Group CTG 136.1.1 tasked with blockading Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.[2] Bigelow received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for participating from 24 October 1962 to 21 November 1962.[3]

Bigelow saw extensive service in the Vietnam War and also served as a NASA recovery ship for the Mercury and Gemini III programs.[citation needed]

While operating off Vietnam on 20 April 1967, an explosion in a gun mount injured six sailors, 1 killed. [4]

Bigelow served as a test platform for Phalanx CIWS in 1977. The mount was installed just aft of the aft radar gun director.[5][6][7]

Glenn R. Brindel, commanding officer of USS Stark during the 1986 missile attack, was executive officer of Bigelow from 1978 to 1980.[8]

Fate

Left to Right: Ainsworth, Bigelow, and Coronado pier-side in Mina Salman, Bahrain in the summer of 1981. Coronado, the flagship of the U.S. Middle East Forces at the time, was painted white as is tradition for flagships since the Great White Fleet.
Bigelow decommissioned 5 November 1982.

She was sold for scrap to the Fore River Shipyard and Iron Works at Quincy, Massachusetts on 11 December 1992. When the Fore River Shipyard went bankrupt she was resold to N. R. Acquisition Incorporated of New York City by the Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court. She was re-acquired by the Navy for disposition as a target ship, stricken 1 June 1990 and was "Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise" (presumably sunk as a gunnery target) on or before 2 April 2003.[9]

Seller Information

Seller

RNallenweg (667)

Registered Since

01/22/2020

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Item Location

North Carolina, United States

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Worldwide

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Yes

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Money Back - Returns Accepted within 30 Days (Buyer pays Shipping Cost)