Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Austin	SRS - Amphibious Transport Dock	LPD-4	Y
USS Escape	SRS - Salvage Ship	ARS-6	Y
USS Hawkins	SRS - Destroyer	DD-873	Y
Pacific
USS Hornet	PRS - Carrier	CVS-12	Y
USS Joseph J Stauss	SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer	DDG-16	Y
Tracking Ships
USNS Vanguard	TS - Tracking Ship	T-AGM-19	Y
Other
USS Hassayampa6	Oiler - replenishment operations	AO-145	Y (Only 1 known)7
Not Involved
USS Talbot	Destroyer Escort	DEG-4	Y
USNS Huntsville4	Tracking Ship	T-AGM 7	Y
Recovery Control Centers
Norfolk VA	Atlantic Recovery Control Center	N/A	Y
Kunia HI	Pacific Recovery Control Center	N/A	Y

Postmark Variations

Ship	Description of Postmark	Scarcity
USS Hornet	Machine Cancel	Common
USS Hornet	Hand Cancel - AM below 1969 Pmk	Rare
USS Hornet1	Hand Cancel - AM above 1969 Pmk	Rarer
USS Hornet	Hand Cancel - No Time Slug	Rarer
USS Hornet5	Both a Hand Cancel & a Machine Cancel (also signed)	Extremely Rare
USS Austin	Hand Cancel - 'USS Austin' Bottom of Pmk - 'P.M.' Variety	Common
USS Austin	Hand Cancel - 'USS Austin' Bottom of Pmk - 'P M' No Periods Variety	Common
USS Hawkins	Hand Cancel - 'USS Hawkins' Top of Pmk	Common
USS Hawkins	Hand Cancel - 'USS Hawkins' Bottom of Pmk	Rare
Norfolk Naval Air Station	Large Postmark	Common
Norfolk	Smaller Postmark	Common

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo Command Module with Lunar Lander attached above the Moon	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo Command Module with Lunar Lander attached above the Moon	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Atlantic	Similar to Navy Cachet	Orange/Blue/Green	Printed
Beck Cachet - Pacific	Similar to Navy Cachet	Red/Blue/Green	Printed
Goldcraft Cachet	Shows Apollo Capsule in the Water & a Helicopter - also seen on a USS Hawkins cover	Black	Printed
Orbit Cachet	Printed cachet with Navy Cachet on top	Greyscale/Maroon	Printed/Rubber Stamp

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Austin	Black	B823
USS Hawkins	Black	B824
USS Hornet	Maroon	B821
USS Joseph J Stauss	Maroon	B822

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Hornet	Cover has two Great Britain Postage Due stamps added	N/A	N/A
USS Hornet4	Cachet shows astronauts being recovered from capsule	Greyscale	Printed
USS Hornet4	Cachet shows the USS Hornet and an Apollo Capsule attached to Parachutes	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Hornet	USS Hornet cover with a Navy cachet & a Romanian stamp! (signatures are autopen)	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Hornet	USS Hornet postmark & Apollo 12 Navy cachet with a 2nd postmark; FDI First Man on the Moon stamp	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Hornet / USS Joseph J Stauss4	Extremely Unusual - Postmarks from Two Recovery Ships	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Hornet	Postage Due Stamp	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Hornet	Unusual cachet shows capsule in water & helicopters	Black-Red	Printed
Western Samoa	Special Recovery Postmark - FDC	Black	Hand Cancel
Western Samoa	Special Recovery Postmark - Different cachet	Black	Hand Cancel

Signed PRS Covers including Helicopter Recovery Covers - most of these covers were actually aboard the PRS during recovery

Postmark	Description of Cover	Postmark Date
USS Hornet	Sign by the ship's Commanding Officer - Captain C. J. Seiberlich - Hand Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Signed by the pilot of helicopter Recovery 12 - Commander William Aut - Machine Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Another cover signed by the pilot of helicopter Recovery 12 - Commander William Aut - Hand Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Signed by the co-pilot of helicopter Recovery 1 - Lieutenant Junior Grade Glenn Casey - Machine Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Signed by a crew member of helicopter Recovery 1 - Chief Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Operator, Ken Cunningham - Machine Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Signed by the pilot of helicopter Swim 13 - Lieutenant Bill Sherrod - Machine Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet4	Signed by entire crew of helicopter Recovery 1 (Helo 66) - Hand Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet4	Signed by the pilot of helicopter Recovery 12 - Commander William Aut - Hand Cancel	24 November 1969
USS Hornet5	Signed by Capt. Charles G. Colvin, In charge of moving Mobile Quarantine Facility, Maj. Steve Lytle, Wing Space Recovery Officer, and Capt. George H. Ufer USAF Representative aboard the U.S.S. Hornet for Apollo 12	24 November 1969
USS Hornet5	Signed by members of Swin One Recovery Team, Lt. William William Sherrod, Pilot, Lt. Jg. Larry Lybarger, Co-Pilot, AWH-2 Gregg Wilscam 1st Crewman, and AWH-1 Harold M. Faurot 2nd Crewman	24 November 1969
USS Hornet5	Signed by the Frogmen, Lt. Jg. Ernest Lee Jahncke, Decontamination Swimmer, Lt. Jr. William C. Robertson, Swimmer, St-1 Arles L. Nash, Swimmer, and PH-3 William R. Pozzi, Sea Anchor man, and first swimmer in the water	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Signed by members of the Photo Helicopter	24 November 1969
USS Hornet	Signed by members of the Recovery Team - Hand cancel	24 November 1969