Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic3
USS Wasp	PRS - Carrier	CVS-18	Y
USS Ability	SRS - Ocean Minesweeper	MSO-519	N
USS Aucilla	SRS - Oiler	AO-56	Y
USS Joseph P Kennedy Jr	SRS - Destroyer	DD-850	Y
USS Meredith	SRS - Destroyer	DD-890	Y
USS Paiute2	SRS - Fleet Ocean Tug	ATF-159	Y (Rare)
USS Power	SRS - Destroyer	DD-839	Y
USS Waccamaw	SRS - Oiler	AO-109	N
USS Waldron	SRS - Destroyer	DD-699	Y
Pacific4
USS Cochrane	SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer	DDG-21	Y
USS George MacKenzie	SRS - Destroyer	DD-836	Y
USS Ponchatoula	SRS - Oiler	AO-148	Y
USS Renshaw	SRS - Anti-Sub Destroyer	DD-449	Y
USS Rupertus	SRS - Destroyer	DD-851	Y
Tracking & Communications Ships
USNS Rose Knot	TS - West Atlantic, near Sao Tome, Brazil	T-AGM 14	Y
USNS Coastal Sentry	TS - Pacific, NE of the Philippines	T-AGM 15	Y
USNS Range Tracker	TS - Pacific, East of Hawaii	T-AGM 1	Y
USNS Kingsport	Communications Relay Ship - near Hawaii	T-AG 164	Y

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet GT-7 - Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows capsule paracuting into the ocean	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet GT-7 - Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows capsule paracuting into the ocean	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Atlantic	Same as Navy Cachet	See Below	Printed
Beck Cachet - Pacific	Same as Navy Cachet	See Below	Printed
GT-7 Cachet	A small circular text cachet usually appears as an extra cachet. Produced by Morris Beck or Harry Gordon	Blue, Red	Rubber Stamp
Sokolsky Cachet	Shows two Astronauts in Gemini Capsule	Blue	Printed

Postmark Variations

Ship	Description of Postmark	Scarcity
USS Wasp	Machine Cancel AM	Common
USS Wasp	Hand Cancel	Scarce

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers	Beck Cachet Colour
USS Wasp	Maroon, Black7	603 607 608	Blue Maroon Blue
USS Aucilla	Maroon, Black	606	Green
USS Cochrane	Maroon	599	Black
USS Joseph P Kennedy Jr	Maroon, Black	609	Brown
USS Power	Black	605	Yellow
USS George MacKenzie	Maroon	602	Green
USS Meredith	Black	None	-
USS Ponchatoula	Maroon	601	Red
USS Renshaw	Maroon	614	Light Brown
USS Rupertus	Maroon	600	Dark Brown
USS Waldron	Black	604	Orange

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Wasp Ship's Cachet1	Official Ship's cachet shows a Wasp	Black	Rubber Stamp
USNS Kingsport5	A different USNS Kingsport cover marked Dec 4 and 18 1965	Black	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 Wasp	Signed by the ship's Commander on a Beck B608 cover	18 Dec 1965
USS Wasp6	Signed by Pilot of primary recovery helicopter	18 Dec 1965
USS Wasp	Signed by 3 members of the recovery team	18 Dec 1965