Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Wasp	PRS - Amphibious Assault Ship5	CVS-18	Y
USS Canisteo	SRS - Oiler	AO-99	Y
USS Kankakee	SRS - Oiler	AO-39	N
USS Joseph P Kennedy	SRS - Destroyer	DD-850	Y
USS Preserver	SRS - Salvage Ship	ARS-8	N
USS Charles H Roan	SRS - Destroyer	DD-853	Y
USS Lloyd Thomas	SRS - Destroyer	DD-764	N
Pacific
USS Hollister	SRS - Destroyer	DD-788	Y
USS Kawishiwi	SRS - Oiler	AO-146	Y
USS Ozbourn	SRS - Destroyer	DD-846	Y
USS Joseph Strauss	SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer	DDG-16	Y
Tracking & Communications Ships
USNS Rose Knot	TS - Pacific - Off the West Coast of South America	T-AGM 14	Y
USNS Coastal Sentry6	TS - Pacific - NE of the Philippines	T-AGM 15	Y
USNS Wheeling6	TS - Pacific - Hawaii Area	T-AGM 8	Y
Not Involved
USNS Kingsport	Communications Relay Ship	T-AG 164	N

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet GT-11	Designed by Morris Beck it shows several ships and Gemini cachet on parachute1	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet GT-12 - Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows small Gemini capsule and	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet GT-12 - Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows small Gemini capsule and	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet GT-11	Same as Navy Cachet1	Atlantic : Blue-Red	Printed
Beck Cachet GT-12 - Atlantic	Same as Navy Cachet	Yellow-Blue-Green	Printed
Beck Cachet GT-12 - Pacific	Same as Navy Cachet	Pink-Maroon-Green	Printed
GT-12 Cachet	A small circular text cachet usually appears as an extra cachet. Produced by Morris Beck or Harry Gordon	Black, Red	Rubber Stamp
Goldcraft cachet2	Is a copy of an earlier Project Mercury cachet by Donald Schultz. Shows a Mercury capsule inside a circle of rope plus text	Various	Printed
Orbit Cachet	Complex Printed Cachet showing Astronauts and Rocket etc - Navy Cachet usually on Back	Green	Printed

Postmark Variations

Ship	Description of Postmark	Scarcity
USS Wasp	Machine Cancel	Common
USS Wasp	Hand Cancel	Less Common
USNS Coastal Sentry6	Marked 16 Nov 1966	Difficult to Find
USNS Coastal Sentry6	Marked 16 Oct 1966 and corrected to 16 Nov 1966	U/K
USNS Wheeling6	US Navy 17005 BR Postmark (Midway Is)	Difficult to Find
USNS Wheeling6	San Francisco Postmark	Difficult to Find

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Wasp	Maroon, Black	685, 686, 687, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711
USS Canisteo	Maroon, Black	709
USS Joseph P Kennedy	Maroon, Black	707
USS Charles H Roan	Maroon	708
USS Hollister	Maroon	703
USS Kawishiwi	Maroon	705
USS Ozbourn	Maroon	704
USS Joseph Strauss	Maroon	702

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Unknown3	Splashdown and Recovery Operation cachet shows capsule on parachute & rescue ships	Black	Printed
Unknown3	Gemini Recovery Operation cachet shows two small ships	Black	Printed
USS Joseph P. Kennedy	Very unusual cover podtmarked for Gemini 12 but with a Gemini 9 cachet (Black Gemini 12 cachet on back)	Maroon	Rubber Stamp

Fake Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Wasp7a	Both the cachet & postmark are fakes. Believed to be done by a prisioner	Purple	Rubber Stamp

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

Postmark	Description of Cover	Postmark Date
USS Wasp7	Signed by the Swim Team Leader	15 November 1966
USS Wasp7	Beck printed cover with a hand cancel signed by the Commanding Officer, Melvin R. Etheridge	15 November 1966
USS Wasp	Navy cachet - signed by Commanding Officer Captain Melvin R. Etheridge	15 November 1966
USS Wasp	Project Gemini cachet plus Beck GTA-12 cachet and a Navy cachet on the back- signed by Manager of the Gemini program, Charles W. Mathews	15 November 1966