Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Lake Champlain	PRS - Carrier	CVS-39	Y
USS Avenge1	SRS - Ocean Minesweeper	MSO-423	Y (rare)
USS DuPoint	SRS - Destroyer	DD-941	Y
USS Exultant1	SRS - Ocean Minesweeper	MSO-441	Y (rare)
USS Manley	SRS - Destroyer	DD-940	Y
USS Neosho	SRS - Oiler	AO-143	Y
USS New	SRS - Destroyer	DD-818	Y
USS James C Owens	SRS - Destroyer	DD-776	Y
USS Preserver4	SRS - Salvage Ship	ARS-8	Y (E. rare)
USS Waldron	SRS - Destroyer	DD-699	N
USS John W Weeks	SRS - Destroyer	DD-701	Y
Pacific
USS Chipola	SRS - Oiler	AO-63	Y
USS Goldsborough	SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer	DDG-20	Y
USS George MacKenzie	SRS - Destroyer	DD-836	Y
USS Leonard F Mason	SRS - Destroyer	DD-852	Y
USS Taylor	SRS - Destroyer	DD-468	Y
Tracking & Communications Ships
USNS Rose Knot	TS - Pacific, Off the West Coast of South America	T-AGM 14	Y
USNS Coastal Sentry	TS - Pacific, NE of the Philippines	T-AGM 15	Y
USNS Wheeling	TS - Pacific, NW of Hawaii	T-AGM 8	Y
USNS Kingsport	Communications Relay Ship - Position Unknown	T-AG 164	Y
Not Involved
USNS Twin Falls6b	Tracking Ship	T-AGM 11	Y
USS McCard6b	Destroyer	DD-822	Y

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows an anchor & crest	Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows an anchor & crest	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Atlantic	Same as Navy Cachet	Black-Orange	Printed
Beck Cachet - Pacific	Same as Navy Cachet	Blue-Orange	Printed
GT-5 Cachet	A small circular text cachet usually appears as an extra cachet. Produced by Morris Beck	Black, Red	Rubber Stamp
Orbit Cachet	Complex Printed Cachet showing Astronauts and Rocket etc - Navy Cachet usually on Back	Green	Printed
Boerger Cachet	Navy Recovery Ship cachet shows SE USA & Cape Kennedy	Blue-Black	Printed

Postmark Variations

Ship	Description of Postmark	Scarcity
USS Lake Champlain	Machine Cancel	Common
USS Lake Champlain	Hand cancel - Type I - 32-33mm3	Less Common
USS Lake Champlain	Hand Cancel -Type II - 35-36mm3	Less Common
USNS Coastal Sentry5	Air Force Postal Service Sept 7 1965 - Note the year is inverted which seems to be the standard for this cover	Common
USNS Coastal Sentry	US Navy 17066 Sept 10 1965	Common

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Lake Champlain	Black, Maroon	561
USS DuPoint	Black	563, 569
USS Manley	Black	562
USS Neosho	Black	565, 567
USS New	Black	568
USS James C Owens	Black	566
USS John W Weeks	Black	564
USS Chipola	Maroon	560
USS Goldsborough	Maroon	555
USS George MacKenzie	Maroon	558
USS Leonard F Mason	Maroon	556, 559
USS Taylor	Maroon	557

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Lake Champlain6	Postmarks for both start of mission and splashdown	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Lake Champlain6a	Two postmarks -CC for start of mission and USS Lake Champlain for recovery	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Lake Champlain6b	Extremely Rare dual postmark - Both machine & hand cancels	Black	Rubber Stamp
USS Lake Champlain	Interesting crew mail from the 20th - machine cancel	None	None

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

Postmark	Description of Cover	Postmark Date
USS Lake Champlain	Helicopter Recovery Cover signed by pilot of the recovery helicopter - Cdr. Fred Highsmith	29 Aug 1965
USS Lake Champlain1	Signed by Ensign Frank Cleary, a member of UDT	29 Aug 1965
USS Lake Champlain6a	Signed by ship's CO, Captain James Longino, Jr.	29 Aug 1965