MERCURY RECOVERY SHIP COVER & POSTMARK VARIETIES

Mercury-Atlas 9 - 16 May 1963 - L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.

Recovery Force Ships3

Ship

Type

Designation Covers

Pacific (TF-130)

USS Kearsarge

PRS - Carrier

CVS-33

Y

USS John A. Bole

SRS - Destroyer

DD-755

Y

USS Chipola

SRS - Oiler

AO-63

N

USS De Haven

SRS - Destroyer

DD-727

Y

USS Duncan

SRS - Radar Picket Destroyer

DDR-874

Y

USS Epperson

SRS - Destroyer

DDE-719

Y

USS Fletcher

SRS - Destroyer

DD-445

Y

USS Frank Knox

SRS - Radar Picket Destroyer

DDR-42

Y

USS Kawishiwi

SRS - Oiler

AO-146

Y1

USS Lofberg

SRS - Destroyer

DD-759

Y

USS Mansfield

SRS - Destroyer

DD-728

Y

USS Taussig

SRS - Destroyer

DD-746

Y

USS John W. Thomason

SRS - Destroyer

DD-760

Y 

Atlantic (TF-140)

USS Adroit

SRS - Ocean Minesweeper

MSO-509

N

USS Beatty

SRS - Destroyer

DD-756

Y

USS Compton

SRS - Destroyer

DD-705

Y

USS Davis11

SRS - Destroyer

DD-937

Y

USS Gainard

SRS - Destroyer

DD-706

Y

USS Harwood

SRS - Destroyer

DD-861

Y

USS Hyman

SRS - Destroyer

DD-732

Y

USS Myles C. Fox0

SRS - Destroyer

DD-828

Y

USS Opportune

SRS - Salvage & Rescue Ship

ARS-41

N

USS Stalwart

SRS - Oceam Minesweeper

AM-493 (MSO-493)

N

USS Wasp

SRS - Carrier

CVS-18

Y

Tracking & Communication Ships

USAF Coastal Sentry

TS - 28°30'N. latitude and 130°00'E. longitude, south of Japan

T-AGM 15

N

USAF Rose Knot2

TS - 25°00'S. latitude and 120°00' W. longitude, near Pitcairn Island in the Pacific

T-AGM 14

N

USNS Range Tracker

TS - 31°30' N. latitude and 173°00' E. longitude stationed near the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific

T-AGM 1

Y

USNS Twin Falls

TS - 31°3' N. latitude and 75°00' W. longitude between Florida and Bermuda

T-AGM 11

N

Not Involved

USS Charles F. Adams

Guided Missile Destroyer

DDG-2

Y

USS Bache11

Destroyer

DD-470

Y

USS Barry6

Destroyer

DD-933

Y

USS Beale11

Destroyer

DD-471

Y

USS Bennington6

Carrier

CVS-20

Y

USS Bordelon11

Destroyer

DD-881

Y

USS Brownson11

Destroyer

DD-868

Y

USS Constellation11

Carrier

CVA-64

Y

USS Conway11

Destroyer

DDE-507

Y

USS Cony6

Destroyer

DD-508

Y

USS Corry

Radar Picket Destroyer

DDR-817

Y

USS Eaton

Destroyer

DD-510

Y

USS Essex6

Carrier

CVS-9

Y

USS Forest Royal8

Destroyer - was on tentative list to participate

DD-872

Y

USS Forrest Sherman10

Destroyer 

DD-931

Y

USS Forrestal11

Carrier

CVA-59

Y

USS Furse11

Destroyer

DD-882

Y

USS Hancock6

Carrier

CVA-19

Y

USS Hornet11

Carrier

CVS-12

Y

USS Independence6

Carrier

CVA-62

Y

USS Joseph P Kennedy11

Destroyer

DD-850

Y

USS John King11

Guided Missile Destroyer

DDG-3

Y

USS Kitty Hawk6

Carrier

CVA-63

Y

USS Lake Champlain

Carrier

CVS-39

Y

USS Lexington6

Carrier

CVS-16

Y

USS McCaffery

Destroyer - was on tentative list to participate

DDE-860

Y

USS Meredith11

Destroyer

DD-890

Y

USS Midway11

Carrier

CVA-41

Y

USS Murray6

Destroyer

DD-576

Y

USS Nantahala

Oiler - was on tentative list to participate

AO-60

Y

USS O'Brien11

Destroyer

DD-725

Y

USS Oriskany6

Carrier

CVA-34

Y

USS William V. Pratt11

Destroyer

DLG-13

Y

USS Purdy

Destroyer - was on tentative list to participate

DD-734

Y

USS Radford11

Destroyer

DD-446

Y

USS Ranger11

Carrier

CVA-61

Y

USS Rogers11

Destroyer

DD-876

Y

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt11

Carrier

CVA-42

Y

USS Shangrila6

Carrier

CVA-38

Y

USS Charles S. Sperry11

Destroyer

DD-897

Y

USS Charles R. Ware

Destroyer - was on tentative list to participate

DD-865

Y

USNS Huntsville

Tracking Ship

T-AGM 7

Y

USNS Kingsport11

Tracking Ship

T-AG 164

Y

USNS Longview

Tracking Ship

T-AGM 3

Y

USNS Range Recoverer

Tracking Ship

T-AGM 2

Y

USNS Richfield

Tracking Ship

T-AGM 4

Y

USNS Sunnyvale

Tracking Ship

T-AGM 5

Y

USNS Watertown

Tracking Ship

T-AGM 6

Y


Postmark Variations15

Ship

Description of Postmark

Scarcity
USS Kearsarge MC Scarce
USS Kearsarge HC Even Scarcer

General Cachets

Cachet

Description of Cachet

Colours Type 
Beck Cachet Shows world map and Mercury capsule   Red-Black-Blue  Printed
Goldcraft Cachet Shows Mercury Capsule & Recovery ship   Yellow4, Blue, Brown11, Possibly Others Printed
Boerger Cachets
(A.B. Covers)		 a) b) c)
Other designs may exist		 Blue  Printed
 Sokolsky Cachets Other designs exist   Various  Printed
Schultz Cachet  Shows Mercury capsule with data on the mission Maroon  Rubber Stamp
Fuerst Cachet 1 Shows drawing Mercury capsule, ship & sunrise plus text Bicolour - Various  Rubber Stamp 
Fuerst Cachet 2 Small circular multicolor cachet Multicolour Printed
Fuerst Cachet 3? The 'Pacific Recovery Force MAJ. L. Gordon Cooper, Jr" appears on all the Fuerst 1 cachets, it also appears on other cachet makers covers such as Morris Beck. Various Rubber Stamp
Lorraine Carlson Cachet Shows Mercury capsule and Recovery Force
'Salute to U.S. Atlantic Fleet'		 Blue  Printed 
Highway Stamp Club Cachet Shows NASA Emblem   Blue Rubber Stamp
Type 1 Somewhat similar to Schultz - capsule is larger & text different  Maroon  Rubber Stamp
Type 2  Simple Drawing of Mercury capsule marked 'MA-9 Recovery Force' Maroon, Black  Rubber Stamp
Type 3 Shows a rocket, capsule under parachutes and the PRS - This cachet is hard to find Black-Red  Printed 
Type 4 Text Cachet in large Ellipse Red Printed
Karcher Kover
Type 1		 Beautiful Multicolour cachet shows half-earth and rocket in flight. Produced by Frederick L. Karcher of Karcher Kover - Condition .... Go, Go, Go! Various Printed
Karcher Kover
Type 2		 Beautiful Multicolour cachet shows half-earth and rocket in flight. Produced by Frederick L. Karcher of Karcher Kover - Its Gordo all the Way Various Printed
Gordon's 22 Orbits Small General Destroyer Cachet shows a destroyer Maroon Rubber Stamp
Joe Frasketi Cachet13 Cachet shows a Mercury capsule plus text with stars on each side of the text. The cachet also exists with a smaller version of the capsule. Various but mainly Red-Black or Black-Red Rubber Stamp

Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship

Beck Numbers

Ship

Beck Numbers

USS Kearsarge 323 USS Beatty 333
USS John A. Bole 318 USS Compton 335
USS De Haven 322 USS Gainard 331
USS Duncan 321 USS Harwood 339
USS Epperson 326 USS Hyman 338
USS Fletcher12 317 USS Myles C. Fox 332
USS Frank Knox 320 USS Wasp 341
USS Lofberg 325 Not Involved  
USS Mansfield 319 USS Corry 342
USS Taussig 324 USS McCaffery 337
USS John W. Thomason 327 USS Nantahala 334
    USS Purdy 340
    USS Charles R. Ware 336

Interesting Cachets & Covers (including Ship Cachets)

Cachet

Description of Cachet

Colours Type 
 USS Epperson  Ship's cachet Black Rubber Stamp 
USS Fletcher  Ship's cachet Black Rubber Stamp
USS Hyman  Ship's cachet Maroon Rubber Stamp
USS Kearsarge Ship's cachet Maroon, Black5,9 Rubber Stamp
Versatile Spearhead of Seapower Shows the Earth and an orbital path Black Rubber Stamp
USS Kearsarge USS Kearsarge cover with a Type 3 cachet and a hand cancel Maroon & Black Printed
USS Mansfield A very interesting cover with a Desron 9 cachet in addition to a KK cachet and signed by the Commanding Officer Various Printed & Rubber Stamp
USS Frank Knox On a general US Project Mercury cover B/W Printed
USS Gainard Black Mercury capsule cachet Black Rubber Stamp

USS Lake Champlain6

A general MA-9 cachet Brown Printed

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

Postmark

Description of Cover

Postmark Date
USS Kearsarge An interesting PRS Cover postmarked at Cape Canaveral and signed by the Commanding Officer Captain E. P. Rankin 15 May 1963
USS Kearsarge14 A possibly unique cover. A Beck Crew cover with the ship's cachet on the front and signed by the Commanding Officer Captain E. P. Rankin. 16 May 1963
USS Kearsarge16 Great Helicopter Recovery Cover signed by the Pilot Mead Massa and co-pilot! First one seen. And with an associated letter from Massa. 15 May 1963

Notes:
0) A letter from the US Navy suggests that the USS Myles C. Fox was not involved in Mercury 9. However, other sources state that it was involved.
1) A single standard cover has been reported from the USS Kawishiwi. In addition two inter-ship covers from the USS Kawishiwi to the USS Thomason exist. One such cover is illustrated.
2) Steve Durst has a Rose Knot cover postmarked in Tahiti on 22 April 1963, just prior to Astronaut Gordon Cooper's flight
3) The Mediterranean Sea Recovery Force (TF 109), consisting of two Destroyers, was on Standby
4) From the collection of Steve Durst
5) The black cachet is extremely scarce
6) From the collection of Eddie Bizub
7) Liftoff was posponed from 14 May due to problems with the launch vehicle gantry and a computer problem at the Bermuda tracking station
8) Mentioned in 'Project mercury ...one step into space' by Donald O. Schultz
9) From Owen Murray's website http://beck.ormurray.com/
10) Sold on eBay in 2009
11) From the collection of Tom Steiner
12) A small number of Beck B317 covers have been found with different postmarks including the PRS USS Kearsarge. Morris Beck sent a second batch of 42 B317 covers to the Navy (the first batch consisted of 311 covers plus 25 crew covers). Since the ship's name is not printed on the cover, the covers may have been distributed in any manner by the Navy. See Owen Murray's website http://beck.ormurray.com/ .
13) From the collection of Joe Frasketi
14) Thanks to Owen Murray's website with a cover from the collection of Martin Schwebs Rasmussen
15) See article 'A Study of MA-9 Postmarks' for a full list of variations in dates
16) From the collection of Timothy Preston

 

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Last modified on 1 February 2012

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