Large 48 star American Ensign, in linen, 2320 x 5310 mm. 48 white stars, sewn on a blue ground taking up the upper left canton, with ground of red and white horizontal stripes. the luff stencilled " US ENSIGN NO 6. MARE ISLAND JAN 1944 ," with ink inscription " Flown from USS Ancon, 28 Aug. 1945 Occupation of Japan ." Slight discoloration of the white, the upper edges of the fly slightly blown out. Provenance : Captain W.E.Lankenau, Commanding USS Ancon , by descent, (the lot sold with a framed 1 p typed letter signed, on Headquarters of the Commandant Third Naval District, New York, Official letterhead, dated December 2nd 1947, Lankenau stating that this ensign was flown by USS Ancon on entering Sagami Wan on August 28th 1945 and flown again upon entry into Tokyo Bay and during the formal Surrender Ceremonies on September 2nd, 1945.) The USS Ancon was built and launched from the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, MA, in September 1938, as a civilian vessel for the Panama Railway Company to transport passengers from New York to Cristobal, Panama. In January 1942 she was taken over by the Army Transport Service, and did several troop runs to Australia with Army Air corps personnel. After another refit she headed to the Mediterranean and saw action off Morocco, in the Sicily invasion (Omar Bradley aboard), at Salerno (Lt Gen Mark Clarke aboard), and was the flagship for the assault forces off Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, reporting back to Rear Admiral John L. Hall. By the end of 1944 she was going through the Panama Canal to San Diego and Pearl Harbor, by February on to Eniwetok, then Saipan, and into the Battle for Okinawa, anchored off the western beaches supporting ground troops with directed fire on Japanese positions. By June 3rd she left Okinawa for Subic Bay and Manila, Philippines, where she served as the flagship of the Commander 7th Amphibious Force. When the Japanese surrendered on August 15th, the ship steamed North via Iwo Jima, to join Halsey's Pacific 3rd Fleet, arriving on the 28th in Sagami Bay the coastline to the south just outside Tokyo bay. They steamed in with the 3rd Fleet on the 29th and anchored between the USS Missouri and the USS South Dakota, acting as a Communications ship for the USS Missouri, the South Dakota and the Iowa, and some 90 war correspondents sent their messages home from the Ancon . As the Captain's letter states, " The Surrender ceremony recordings were rushed to the Ancon and through her radio facilities the entire world was appraised of this momentous event ," the messages sent on to Guam and around the world. The Second World War was finally over! This lot also includes an official US Navy press photo of the USS Washington anchored in Tokyo Bay.
Large 48 star American Ensign, in linen, 2320 x 5310 mm. 48 white stars, sewn on a blue ground taking up the upper left canton, with ground of red and white horizontal stripes. the luff stencilled " US ENSIGN NO 6. MARE ISLAND JAN 1944 ," with ink inscription " Flown from USS Ancon, 28 Aug. 1945 Occupation of Japan ." Slight discoloration of the white, the upper edges of the fly slightly blown out. Provenance : Captain W.E.Lankenau, Commanding USS Ancon , by descent, (the lot sold with a framed 1 p typed letter signed, on Headquarters of the Commandant Third Naval District, New York, Official letterhead, dated December 2nd 1947, Lankenau stating that this ensign was flown by USS Ancon on entering Sagami Wan on August 28th 1945 and flown again upon entry into Tokyo Bay and during the formal Surrender Ceremonies on September 2nd, 1945.) The USS Ancon was built and launched from the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, MA, in September 1938, as a civilian vessel for the Panama Railway Company to transport passengers from New York to Cristobal, Panama. In January 1942 she was taken over by the Army Transport Service, and did several troop runs to Australia with Army Air corps personnel. After another refit she headed to the Mediterranean and saw action off Morocco, in the Sicily invasion (Omar Bradley aboard), at Salerno (Lt Gen Mark Clarke aboard), and was the flagship for the assault forces off Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th, 1944, reporting back to Rear Admiral John L. Hall. By the end of 1944 she was going through the Panama Canal to San Diego and Pearl Harbor, by February on to Eniwetok, then Saipan, and into the Battle for Okinawa, anchored off the western beaches supporting ground troops with directed fire on Japanese positions. By June 3rd she left Okinawa for Subic Bay and Manila, Philippines, where she served as the flagship of the Commander 7th Amphibious Force. When the Japanese surrendered on August 15th, the ship steamed North via Iwo Jima, to join Halsey's Pacific 3rd Fleet, arriving on the 28th in Sagami Bay the coastline to the south just outside Tokyo bay. They steamed in with the 3rd Fleet on the 29th and anchored between the USS Missouri and the USS South Dakota, acting as a Communications ship for the USS Missouri, the South Dakota and the Iowa, and some 90 war correspondents sent their messages home from the Ancon . As the Captain's letter states, " The Surrender ceremony recordings were rushed to the Ancon and through her radio facilities the entire world was appraised of this momentous event ," the messages sent on to Guam and around the world. The Second World War was finally over! This lot also includes an official US Navy press photo of the USS Washington anchored in Tokyo Bay.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
