Recovery Force Ships
| Ship | Type | Designation | Covers |
|
Atlantic |
|||
|
SRS - Destroyer |
DD-818 |
Y |
|
|
Fleet Ocean Tug |
AFT-159 |
Y |
|
|
SRS - Salvage Ship |
ARS-6 |
Y (Rare) |
|
|
Pacific |
|||
|
PRS - Carrier |
LPH-2 |
Y |
|
|
SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer |
DDG-22 |
Y |
|
|
SRS - Oiler |
AO-146 |
Y |
|
|
Activated Once Emergency was Declared0 |
|||
|
Atlantic |
|||
|
USS Bordelon |
Radar Picket Destroyer |
DD-881 |
N |
|
USS Forest Royal |
Destroyer |
DD-872 |
N |
|
USS William C. Lawe |
Destroyer |
DD-763 |
N |
|
USS America |
Carrier |
CVA-66 |
N |
|
Pacific |
|||
|
USS Granville S Hall |
SRS - Miscellaneous Auxiliary Service Craft |
YAG-40 |
N |
|
Tracking Ships |
|||
|
TS - Tracking Ship |
T-AGM-19 |
Y |
|
|
Others (Pacific)1 |
|||
|
HMS Nubian |
Frigate - British Far East Fleet |
F-131 |
U/K |
|
HMS Phoebe |
Frigate - British Far East Fleet |
F-42 |
U/K |
|
Fleet Stores Ship - British Far East Fleet |
A-345 |
Y (V. Rare) |
|
|
RFA TideFlow |
Fast Fleet Tanker - British Far East Fleet |
A-97 |
U/K |
|
MS Cap Blanco |
German Freighter - Was in the Area |
N/A |
Y ((V. Rare) |
|
MS Cap Vilano |
German Freighter - Was in the Area |
N/A |
Y (V. Rare) |
|
Libanon |
German Freighter - Was in the Area |
N/A |
Y (V. Rare) |
|
Probably Not Involved5 |
|||
|
Submarine / Destroyer |
SS-344 / DD-824 |
Y |
|
|
Ocean Minesweeper |
MSO-440 |
Y |
|
|
Destroyer |
DLG-13 |
Y |
|
|
Recovery Control Centers |
|||
|
Atlantic Recovery Control Center |
N/A |
Y |
|
|
Pacific Recovery Control Center |
N/A |
Y |
|
|
Ship |
Description of Postmark |
Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| Handcancel - Iwo Jima on Bottom - Date Normal | Commom | |
| Handcancel - Iwo Jima on Bottom - Date skewed in Cancel | Commom | |
| Handcancel - Iwo Jima on Top | Common | |
| Red USS Benjamin Stoddert New York cancel plus Ship's Corner Card | Common | |
| Large Postmark | Common | |
| Smaller Postmark | Common |
|
Cachet |
Description of Cachet |
Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Atlantic |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo Lunar Lander |
Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Pacific |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo Lunar Lander |
Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Beck Cachet - Atlantic | Similar to Navy Cachet | Red-Grey-Black | Printed |
| Beck Cachet - Pacific | Similar to Navy Cachet | Red-Blue-Black | Printed |
| MSRF TF-140 Cachet | Shows capsule in sea with parachutes attached | Black, Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Artopages4 | Apollo 13 Splashdown & Recovery by the USS Iwo Jima cachet | Dark Blue | Printed |
|
Ship |
Known Cachet Colours |
Beck Numbers |
| USS New | Black | B840 |
| USS Iwo Jima | Maroon | B838 |
| USS Benjamin Stoddert | Maroon | Only 1 known on a Crew Cover |
| USS Kawishiwi | Maroon | B839 |
|
Cachet |
Description of Cachet |
Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Iwo Jima | Apollo 13 Recovery Cachet shows the Iwo Jima | Green | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Iwo Jima8 | USS Iwo Jima postmark on a Apollo 13 mission emblem cover | Various | Printed |
| USS Iwo Jima7a | USS Iwo Jima postmark on a CKM Apollo 13 mission emblem cover | Various | Printed |
| USS Iwo Jima7a | Interesting NASA IYQS Tracking Station cover | Red | Printed |
| Navy cachet plus Interesting extra small 'Kawishiwi AO 146' text cachet | Maroon / Purple | Rubber Stamp | |
| Beck Crew Cover - the only Beck cover know with a USS Benjamin Stoddert postmark! | Red-Blue-Black | Printed | |
| Western Samoa | Aerogram - Special Recovery Postmark | Black | Hand Cancel |
| Houston | Has a Navy Recovery Fleet cachet plus an Apollo NASA cachet | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
|
Postmark |
Description of Cover |
Postmark Date |
|---|---|---|
| Signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Leland Erwin Kirkemo | 17 April 1970 | |
| Iwo Jima Postcard Signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Leland Erwin Kirkemo | 17 April 1970 | |
| PRS Recovery Cover signed by the pilot, Charles Smiley | 17 April 1970 | |
| A Helicopter Recovery Cover signed by the pilot, Charles Smiley | 17 April 1970 | |
| USS Iwo Jima7 | Signed by the four Recovery frogmen | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima | Crew Cover signed by Supply Officer, E Rinehart CW02 and the Recovery Helicopter pilot, Charles Smiley plus the insert that was placed in all Crew covers from this mission - Very Unusual | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima | Crew Cover signed by the CO / Captain L.E. Kirkemo - Very Unusual | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima7 | Crew Cover signed by the the crew on Prime Recovery Helicopter #66 for Apollo 13. Included are Cdr. C. B. Smiley, Pilot, D. G. McCarthy, Co-Pilot, and Ralph Slider, Crewman - Very Unusual | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima7 | Crew Cover signed by Cdr. C. B. Smiley the pilot of the Prime Recovery Helicopter - Very Unusual | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima7a | Another Crew Cover signed by the pilot and co-pilot of the Prime Recovery Helicopter - Very Unusual | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima7 | Navy Cacheted cover signed by the crew of Swim I Helicopter, Cdr. Carl Frank, Pilot, Douglas Hudson, Copilot, and Robert Peterson and Jerry Nielsen Crew Member | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima7 | Navy Cacheted cover signed by Charles C. Fillet Team Leader and Ryborn R. Kirby Assistant Team Leader for the Recovery | 17 April 1970 |
| USS Iwo Jima | Navy Cacheted cover signed by Charles C. Fillet Team Leader and Ryborn R. Kirby Assistant Team Leader for the Recovery | 17 April 1970 |
| Beck cover signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Leland Erwin Kirkemo | 17 April 1970 |
Note:
0) The USS Bordelon was in Port Louis, Mauritius and was put on standby when the emergency occurred. The USS America
left Puerto Rico earlier than scheduled enroute to Rio de Janeiro in case an Atlantic splashdown was required.
The USS Granville was dispatched to the primary recovery area to support the USS Iwo Jima. The position of the
USS Forest Royal and the USS William C. Lawe are unknown.
1) 'Wilhelm - Katalog Apollo', Peter K. Wilhelm, 2003, p73-74
2) Scan from ibid., p72
3) From the NASA Mission Report 'Because of the emergency which resulted in premature termination of the mission,
additional support was provided by the Department of Defense and offers of assistance were made by many foreign
nations, including England, France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Uruguay, Brazil, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nationalist
China, and the Soviet Union. As a result of this voluntary support, a total of 21 ships and 17 aircraft were available
for supporting an Indian Ocean landing, and 51 ships and 21 aircraft for an Atlantic Ocean landing. In the Pacific
Ocean, there were 13 ships and 17 aircraft known to be available over and above the forces designated for primary
recovery support.'
4) From the collection of Randy Constantin
5) A full list of additional ships called in due to the emergency is not known. Therefore, some of these ships
may have been placed on standby for the recovery effort.
6) From the collection of Tom Steiner
7) Sold on eBay in 2010 7a) in 2011
8) From the collection of Antoni Rigo
9) From the collection of Martin Schwebs Rasmussen
This page © Dr Ross J Smith
This page is maintained by the Webmaster
Last modified on 16 December 2011
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