Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Hawkins	SRS - Destroyer	DD-873	Y
USS Paiute	SRS - Fleet Ocean Tug	AFT-159	Y
USS Spiegel Grove	SRS - Landing Ship Dock	LSD-32	Y
Pacific
USS New Orleans	PRS - Carrier	LPH-11	Y
USS Carpenter	SRS - Destroyer	DD-825	Y
USS Ponchatoula	SRS - Oiler	AO-148	Y
Tracking Ships
USNS Vanguard	TS - Tracking Ship	T-AGM-19	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 Paiute	'PM' below Day Jacksonville Postmark	Common?
USS Paiute	'PM' above Day Jacksonville Postmark	Common?
USS Ponchatoula	Feb 3 1971 (Black Navy Cachet)	Fairly Common?
USS Ponchatoula	Feb 9 1971 (Maroon Navy Cachet)	Common
USS Ponchatoula2	Feb 7 1971 (Note: Looks like Feb 1 but closeup view shows it's Feb 7) with Unusual Apollo 14 cachet	?
USS Spiegel Grove	Normal Postmark with Time Slug	Common
USS Spiegel Grove	Postmark Lacks Time Slug See Article on this Postmark	Rare
TF-140 Control Center	US Postal Service 234? 31 Jan 1971	?

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows two views of the Apollo Lunar Lander	Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows two views of the Apollo Lunar Lander	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Atlantic	Similar to Navy Cachet	Orange-Blue-Silve	Printed
Beck Cachet - Pacific	Similar to Navy Cachet	Red-Black-Silver	Printed
MSRF TF-140 Cachet	Shows TF-140 emblem	Black, Blue1	Rubber Stamp

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Hawkins	Black	B841
USS Spiegel Grove	Black	B863
USS New Orleans	Maroon, Black (scarce)	B861, B864
USS Carpenter	Maroon	None
USS Ponchatoula	Black, Maroon	B862

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS New Orleans	EKAS PRS Cachet shows the Carrier and Apollo capsule under parachutes with associated text including name of PRS & Astronauts	Red	Rubber Stamp
USS New Orleans	Interesting cachet includes the Mission Emblem	Multicolour	Printed
USS New Orleans	A different cachet includes the Mission Emblem	Multicolour	Printed
USS New Orleans - New York	Unusual Maroon Double-Circle USS New Orleans/N.Y. Hand Cancel - only 1 copy seen on envelope with normal Hand Cancel and incorrect Navy Altantic Cachet Extremely Rare	Maroon	Hand Cancel
USS New Orleans2	Unusual Maroon USS New Orleans Hand Cancel - First one seen	Maroon	Hand Cancel
USS New Orleans3	Interesting Apollo FDI cachet	Blue	Printed
USS New Orleans3a	Interesting Capsule in Ocean cachet	Green	Printed
USS Ponchatoula	Usual black Navy cachet with Captain's corner card stamped on back of envelope	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Spiegel Grove2	Commander's Corner Card	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Spiegel Grove	Mission Emblem cover. Unusual for a Secondary Recovery Ship	Multicolour	Printed
USNS Vanguard	USNS Vanguard Project Apollo MSTS cachet Smaller Text	Black	Rubber Stamp
USNS Vanguard	USNS Vanguard Project Apollo MSTS cachet Larger Text	Black	Rubber Stamp
Western Samoa	Special Recovery Postmark	Black	Hand Cancel
Western Samoa	Aerogram - Special Recovery Postmark	Black	Hand Cancel
Pago Pago Samoa	Splashdown Cover	Black	Printed

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 New Orleans	PRS Recovery Cover signed by the Recovery Helicopter copilot Lt. Thomas F. Finley and AWC Davey	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans	Cover signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Robert E. Moore	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans	Another cover signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Robert E. Moore. But on a cover with the scarce black cachet	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans1	Another cover signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Robert E. Moore on a cover with the scarce black cachet	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans	Cover signed by the Main Recovery pilot, Bill Walker	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans3	Cover signed by the 4 man crew of Main Recovery Helicopter	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans3	Nice Beck Printed Cover signed by the crew of the Photo Helicopter including LCdr Robert L. Rich, Pilot, Lt. T. G. Hutchinson, Copilot, and AXCS Edward Kulikowsi, First Crewman	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans	Cover signed by signed by the Crew of Swim 1 Helicopter includes Cdr. Paul K. Hine, Pilot, James A. Cutdopia, Copilot, James S. Carpenter ,First Crewman, and Patrick A. Maher, Second Crewman	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans	Cover signed by signed by the Crew of Swim II Helicopter includes LCdr Thomas C. Barthlolmew, Pilot, Lt. Michael Scuro, Copilot, AW2 Jack H. Mahlman First Crewman, and AW3 John B, Cecil, Second Crewman	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans3a	Great cover signed by Recovery helicopter pilots Walker & Finley and the ship's commanding officer Capt. E. Moore	9 February 1971
USS New Orleans3a	Great cover members of the Apollo Recovery Team	9 February 1971