By Captain Lawrence B. Brennan, U.S. Navy (Ret.) - New Jersey ...

Lawrence B. Brennan NJ-Built Aircraft Carriers Page 43
Lawrence Brennan ~ NEW JERSEY-BUILT AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: PART III
Fig. 49: TBM Avenger torpedo plane landing on USS Cowpens during the
Marshalls-Gilberts raids of Nov.-Dec 1943.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives
(photo # 80-G-K-13718).
Joining TF 58, Cowpens sailed from Pearl Harbor on January 16, 1944 for the invasion of
the Marshalls. Her planes pounded Kwajalein and Eniwetok the last three days of the month to
prepare for the assault landing on the 31st. Using Majuro as a base, the force struck at Truk on
February 16-17 and the Marianas on February 21 and 22 before putting in to Pearl Harbor on
March 4, 1944.
Fig. 50: A free-franked cover with a handwritten return address for USS Cowpens ℅ Fleet Post Office
San Francisco. The cover is postmarked on February 27, 1944 and is canceled with her (Locy Type 2z*)
postmark in black ink. The cover is censored in the lower left corner and is addressed to the famous
motorcycle company. The postmark is rated "B" in the Postmark Catalog.
Vol. 37/No. 1
15
NJPH
Whole No. 173 February 2009
Published by the New Jersey Postal History Society
Originally published in the pages of NJPH