September 2004 Cover

by Steve Shay

USS HERBERT

This USS Herbert cover is full of Naval Cover history.

Canceled on May 21, 1935 aboard the destroyer USS Herbert, DD-160, the cancel and cachet all tell a story. Even the destroyer has history, built in 1919 and commissioned the same year, Herbert was decommissioned less than three years later in June 1922. After a period of inactivity, Herbert was recommissioned on May 1, 1930 and would continue to serve until September 25, 1945. Along the way, in December 1943, she would be re-classed and modified as a High Speed Transport.

But all that would be years after this cover was cancelled. As the killer slogan indicates, "Greetings to ANCS, 1st Day Hall Cancel," something was being celebrated.

Marshall Hall had been a charter member of USCS, member #10. Hall was a stamp collector and wrote a column "Naval Cancels and Cachets" for Our Navy magazine. Hall and the USCS leadership had differences of opinion and in March 1935 after the USCS elections, Hall broke away to found the American Naval Cancel Society in April. The ANCS would subsequently draw many members away from USCS while some would be members of both societies. This cover shows what may have been the first cancel that Hall donated to a ship after the ANCS founding. As a first day of use, the cancel strike is very clean.

The cachet was sponsored by the USCS Chapter #4, Decatur Chapter. The Chapter had been formed in July 1933 and officers were elected in September. (The Stephen Decatur Chapter is still an active USCS Chapter, 71 years later.) The First Vice President of the Chapter was Dr. S.E. Hutnick.

Dr. Hutnick was the cachet designer. His rubber stamp is on the back of the cover and his unmistakable red and blue handwritten address on the cover is evident. Hutnick would be a prolific sponsor and artist, providing covers through 1946. Many of the events he marked would be serviced with 500-1000 covers. This cachet is a rubber stamp cachet, he also did printed, thermographed and hand drawn covers.

The last bit of history is the ship being honored with the cachet, the launching of submarine SS-174, USS Shark. (Hand lettered at the bottom of the cachet.) The Shark would be lost to a Japanese depth charge attack on February 11, 1942.

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