Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Wasp	PRS - Carrier	CVS-18	Y
USS Blandy	SRS - Destroyer	DD-943	Y
USS Chukawan	SRS - Oiler	AO-100	Y
USS Fuse	SRS - Destroyer	DD-882	Y
USS Hawkins	SRS - Destroyer	DD-873	Y
USS Hoist	SRS - Salvage Ship	ARS-40	N
USS Nimble	SRS - Minesweeper	MSO-459	N
USS Robert A Owens	SRS - Destroyer	DD-827	Y
USS Rich	SRS - Destroyer	DD-820	Y
USS Skill	SRS - Ocean Minesweeper	MSO-471	Y
May Have Participated4
USS Barry	SRS - Destroyer	DD-993	Y
USS Charles S Sperry	SRS - Destroyer	DD-697	Y
Pacific
USS Goldsborough	SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer	DDG-20	Y
USS Higbee	SRS - Destroyer	DD-806	Y
USS Leonard F Mason	SRS - Destroyer	DD-852	Y
USS Orleck	SRS - Destroyer	DD-886	Y
USS Ponchatoula	SRS - Oiler	AO-148	Y
USS Rupertus	SRS - Destroyer	DD-851	Y
Tracking & Communications Ships
USNS Rose Knot	TS - Atlantic	T-AGM 14	Y
USNS Range Tracker	TS - Pacific or Indian Ocean	T-AGM 1	Y
USNS Wheeling	TS - Pacific or Indian Ocean	T-AGM 8	Y
USNS Kingsport	Communications Relay Ship - Pacific or Indian Ocean	T-AG 164	Y
Others
USNS Coastal Sentry	TS - Ship was on Standby	T-AGM 15	N
Not Involved
USNS Gen. H. H. Arnold	Tracking Ship	T-AGM 9	Y
USNS Longview	Tracking Ship	T-AGM 3	Y
USNS Richfield	Tracking Ship	T-AGM 4	Y
USNS Sunnyvale	Tracking Ship	T-AGM 5	Y

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows a Gemini capsule with parachute	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows a Gemini capsule with parachute	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Gemini 3	See Beck Cachet for Gemini 3	Yellow-Blue	Printed
Beck Cachet - Gemini 4 Atlantic	Same as Navy Cachet for Gemini 4	Light Green-Red-Black	Printed
Beck Cachet - Gemini 4 Pacific	Same as Navy Cachet for Gemini 4	Light Blue-Red-Blue	Printed
GT-4 Cachet	A small circular text cachet usually appears as an extra cachet. Produced by Morris Beck	Black, Red, Blue	Rubber Stamp
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	Extremely Rare2,3
USS Rupertus	Ship's name bottom of postmark	Common
USS Rupertus	Ship's name top of postmark	Common
USNS Arnold	Kwajalein postmark - Jun 3	U/K
USNS Arnold	Honolulu Kwajalein M. I. BR. postmark - Jun 9	U/K

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Wasp	Black	5221, 540
USS Barry	Maroon	544
USS Blandy	Maroon	545
USS Chukawan	Black	548
USS Fuse	Black	542
USS Hawkins	Black	543
USS Robert A Owens	Maroon	5211,6, 5221,6, 541
USS Rich	Maroon	546
USS Charles S Sperry	Maroon	547
USS Goldsborough	Maroon	534
USS Higbee	Maroon	536
USS Leonard F Mason	Maroon	538
USS Orleck	Maroon	539
USS Ponchatoula	Maroon	535
USS Rupertus	Maroon	537

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Wasp	Very Unusual Captain's cover on back of an Orbit cover	Green/Blue	Printed
USS Chukawan Ship's Cachet	Small circular cachet shows a ship	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Blandy7	A Morris Beck printed cover with both an extra Morris Beck small circular text cachet in blue (seems to be the hardest colour to find) and a George Goldey JFK cachet. An ususual combination.	Light Green-Red-Black, Blue, Brown	Printed & Rubber Stamps
USS Blandy	Late postmark 14 Jun 1965	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USNS Rose Knot5	A different USNS Rose Knot cover	Black	Rubber Stamp and Typed
US Navy 13766	Navy cachet with a Marine post Yokosuka Japan postmark	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
USS Hawkins	Beck B543 cover signed by the Commanding Officer	Light Green-Red-Black	Printed