1961 - USS Amphion (AR 13) - Ship's Information Card - front

This is the USS AMPHION information card. AMPHION was a repair ship that served in U.S. Navy. These kinds of cards were handed out at the quarterdeck to visitors as a way to advertise what the repair ship offered by way of services. As you can see, there was very little that a repair ship couldn't do!

AMPHION was the first ship in this class of repair ships, the second ship in the U.S. Navy to bear the name, and was in commission from 1946 through late September, 1971, when she was decommissioned and transferred to Iran. Her entry in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) must have been made very early in her career. www.hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/ar13.htm , so I have included her Wikipedia page here for further details. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Amphion_(AR-13)

In 1961, at the time this card was made, the ship was commanded by Captain Herb Rommel www.herbrommel.com/ Captain Rommel later served as President of the Universal Ship Cancellation Society (USCS), and was well-known as a dedicated naval officer and collector. He had a very interesting and active naval career which is outlined on this website: graemejwsmith.com/herb/navy.htm

The Universal Ship Cancellation Society (USCS) is an international philatelic organization founded in 1932. The Society promotes the study of the history of ships, their postal markings and postal documentation of events involving the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Merchant Marine, and other Navy and maritime organizations of the world.

Society members are interested in the philatelic and cachet markings used by military and civilian ships alike.

Collectors may be interested in the ship, its postmark, the unofficial cachet that occasionally appears on the envelope, special markings used by the ship or postal service, and, of course, the stamp. Collectors also focus on specific ports, countries, actions, types of ships, activities, special markings (such as censor's marks or air mail markings) and other information.

You will find the Society's webpage at www.uscs.org, and the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/uscsnavalcovers/ .

The USCS is offering a special one-year $10 new membership offer. New members will receive the monthly award winning 32-page USCS Log with great articles on naval/maritime history featuring covers & photos along with other benefits. www.uscs.org/join-uscs/

New members are welcomed from around the world and gain access to the Society’s award-winning monthly magazine, the USCS Log.

Technically speaking, this card is not philatelic in nature. That said, most collectors will amass collections of material related to their interests that help explain background not otherwise available to them. As it turns out, this card, printed aboard AMPHION, of course, was just the right size to be slipped into an envelope responding to a collectors request, and thus is clearly related to our collecting interests. (It also helps that I received this card from Captain Rommel himself during a visit to his retirement home in Newport RI).

Taken on: March 27, 2017

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Universal Ship Cancellation Society

USCS

naval philately

stamp

cachet

stamp collecting

cover

envelope

return address

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AMPHION

USS AMPHION

AR 13

Repair Ship

US Navy

ephemera

Rommel

CAPT Rommel

USN

Navy

Herb Rommel

1984

battery

blacksmith

boiler

canvas

carpenter

CO2

diving and salvage

drafting

electrical

electronics

engine

foundry

gage test

gyro

instrument

machine

ordnance

outside electrical

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pattern

patternmaking

pipe & copper

portable tool

printing & photo

sheetmetal

shipfitter

teletype

typewriter

watch

welding « less

Sets appears in: • Leenhouts Inventory - Ephemera • USCS more » • US Navy Postmarks and Cachets « less

Groups appears in: • Navy Ships

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