Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Alacrity	SRS - Ocean Minesweeper	MSO-520	Y
USS Opportune	SRS - Salvage Ship	ARS-41	Y
USS Exploit	SRS - Ocean Minesweeper	MSO-440	Y
Pacific
USS Ticonderoga	PRS - Carrier	CVS-14	Y
USS Goldsborough	SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer	DDG-20	Y
USS Ponchatoula1	SRS - Oiler	AO-148	Y(rare)
Tracking Ships
USNS Vanguard	TS - Tracking Ship	T-AGM-19	Y
Recovery Control Center
Norfolk VA	Atlantic Recovery Control Center	N/A	Y
Kunia HI	Pacific Recovery Control Center	N/A	Y
Not Involved
USNS Redstone	TS - Tracking Ship	T-AGM-20	Y
USS Constellation	Carrier	CVA-64	Y

Postmark Variations

Ship	Description of Postmark	Scarcity
USS Ticonderoga	Hand Cancel	Commom
USS Ticonderoga	Machine Cancel2(Crew covers only)	Rare
USS Vanguard	Cape Canaveral - 16 April 1972 - Apollo Cachet	Common
USS Vanguard	Cape Canaveral - 22 April 1972 - USNS Vanguard-Apollo Cachet	Common

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows a square general Recovery Force cachet with the number 16 in each of the four corners	Blue	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows a square general Recovery Force cachet with the number 16 in each of the four corners	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Atlantic	Larger version of the Navy Cachet	Light/Dark Green & Black	Printed
Beck Cachet - Pacific	Larger version of the Navy Cachet	Light/Dark Blue & Black	Printed
Artopages4a	Colourful cachet shows recovery ship, rocket, capsule under parachutes etc	Multicolour	Printed

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Ticonderoga	Maroon	B880, B881
USS Goldsborough	U/K	None
Norfolk VA	Black	B880, B881, B882, B883
Honolulu HI	U/K	B880

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Ticonderoga	Cachet shows the an Apollo capsule decending on parachutes	Red/Blue	Printed
USS Ticonderoga5	Unusual 'Depart for Recovery Area' cover - postmarked 8 April 1972	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Ticonderoga5	Unusual 'Return to Port' cover - postmarked 29 April 1972	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Ticonderoga6	Interesting double postmark - USS Ticonderoga on top of a US Postal Service postmark	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Ticonderoga	Interesting Multicolour Printed Cachet	Multicolour	Printed
USS Ticonderoga1	Has a Commander in Chief Pacific corner card	Black/Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Alacrity6	Red Corner Card On a BECK B881 Cover!!	Light/Dark Blue	Printed
USS Goldsborough	Ship's Cachet	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Opportune	Cape Canaveral postmark with earlier date - Extra cachet shows the Lunar Rover	Multicolour/Black	Printed
USS Opportune6	Kennedy Space Center postmark - Mission Emblem cachet	Blue	Rubber Stamp
USS Opportune6	Kennedy Space Center postmark - Larger Mission Emblem cachet plus an embossed seal	Black	Rubber Stamp
USNS Vanguard6	Goddard SFC Apollo Tracking Team Vanguard Tracking Ship Cachet - postmark CC 16 April 1972 hand cancel	Black	Rubber Stamp
Western Samoa	Special Recovery Postmark	Red	Hand Cancel
Western Samoa	Special Recovery Postmark - This cover shows a slight variation on the previous Western Samoa cover	Red	Hand Cancel
Kunia HI	Inner & Outer Space Cachet - April 16	Red & Blue	Printed
Kunia HI7	Navy cachet - April 16	Maroon	Rubber stamp
Norfolk VA	Navy Cachet - April 27	Black	Rubber Stamp
Norfolk VA	Inner & Outer Space Cachet - April 16	Orange & Blue	Printed
Norfolk VA4a	Unusual Apollo 16 Recovery Force Cachet + Navy Cachet	Red & Blue, Black	Printed / Rubber Stamp
USS Constellation	USS Ticonderoga postcard with a USS Constellation postmark	Multicolour	Printed

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

Postmark	Description of Cover	Postmark Date
USS Ticonderoga4	Helicopter Recovery Cover signed by the pilot Commander Arnie Fieser who was the prime recovery pilot of the SH-3G helicopter which made the pickup (sold on eBay)	27 April 19723
USS Ticonderoga	PRS Recovery Cover signed by the helicopter recovery pilot, CDR Arnie Fieser of Recovery 1	27 April 1972
USS Ticonderoga	Cover signed by the leader of the UDT-12 Recovery Team	27 April 1972
USS Ticonderoga	Wonderful 1 year anniversary cover signed by 12 frogmen!	27 April 1973