Recovery Force Ships
| Ship |
Type |
Designation | Covers |
|
Atlantic |
|||
|
PRS - Carrier |
CVS-39 |
Y (Rare) |
|
|
USS Abbot |
SRS - Destroyer |
DD-629 |
N |
|
USS Ability |
SRS - Oceanic Minesweeper |
MSO-519 |
N |
|
USS Decatur |
SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer |
DDG-31 |
N |
|
USS Newman K. Perry |
SRS - Destroyer |
DD-883 |
N |
|
USS Notable |
SRS - Minesweeper |
AM-460 (MSO-460) |
N |
|
USS Recovery |
SRS - Salvage & Recovery Ship |
ARS-43 |
N |
|
USS Rooks |
SRS - Destroyer |
DD-804 |
N |
|
USS The Sullivans |
SRS - Destroyer |
DD-537 |
N |
|
USS Wadleigh |
SRS - Destroyer |
DD-687 |
N |
|
Tracking Ships |
|||
|
USAF Coastal Sentry2 |
TS - Atlantic Tracking Ship |
T AGM-15 |
N |
|
Not Involved |
|||
|
Coast Guard Cutter |
WAGB-279 |
Y |
|
|
Ship |
Description of Postmark |
Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| USS Lake Champlain1 | no dots (no periods after USS) | Rare |
| USS Lake Champlain1 | with dots (periods after U. S. S.) | Slightly Rarer |
| USS Lake Champlain1 | Machine Cancel - Only two are known, one of which is a crew Cover (illustrated) | The Rarest |
|
Type of Cover |
Description |
Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Cover1 | Contains the standard USS Lake Champlain 4 lines of text (no dots pmk) | Sent by a Member of the Crew |
| Standard Cover1 | Contains the standard USS Lake Champlain 4 lines of text (dots pmk) | Sent by journalist Thomas Kelly to his friend Ed Gordon who will discuss Alan Shepard’s recovery on his radio program1 |
| Standard Cover5 | Contains the standard USS Lake Champlain 4 lines of text (dots pmk) | Sent by a Member of the Crew |
| Postcard1 | Nice item with photo of USS Lake Champlain on the other side (dots pmk) | Sent by a Member of the Crew |
| Crew Cover1 | Note the Printed Colour Cachet (no dots pmk) | This cover is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Captain's Cover as it was available for purchase in the Ship’s Store by crew members1 |
| Crew Cover1 | Note the Printed Colour Cachet (dots pmk) | This cover is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Captain's Cover as it was available for purchase in the Ship’s Store by crew members1 |
| Suspect Cover1 | This cover is thought to be a contrived cover and also appears to include a suspect autograph. The cover is thought to be a Riser suspect cover. | Note that it is on US Air Mail Stamped Envelope4 |
|
Cachet |
Description of Cachet |
Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Lake Champlain5 | Late postmark - 23rd May | Black Text | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Lake Champlain | Late postmark - 12th May - probable Return to Port | Black Text | Rubber Stamp |
Notes:
1) From Steve Durst's unpublished book or personal collection
2) The USNS Rose Knot was off the coast of Europe to support MA-3 and was not involved with MR-3
3) See the article 'Where was that Ship' by Dr Ross J Smith (Bottom
of page 3)
4) Riser fakes were done on US Embossed Envelopes (Scott Numbers UC18 (6c air mail), UC26 (7c air mail) and UC33
(7c air mail))
5) Sold on eBay during 2010, 5a) 2011
This page © Dr Ross J Smith
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Last modified on 25 May 2011
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