Recovery Force Ships

Ship	Type	Designation	Covers
Atlantic
USS Escape	SRS - Rescue & Salvage Ship	ARS-6	Y
Pacific
USS Ticonderoga	PRS - Carrier	CVS-14	Y
USS Grapple	SRS - Rescue & Salvage Ship	ARS-53	Y
Tracking Ships
USNS Vanguard	TS - Tracking Ship	T-AGM-19	Y
USNS Redstone2	TS - Tracking Ship	T-AGM-20	Y
Recovery Control Centers
Norfolk VA	Atlantic Recovery Control Center	N/A	Y
Kunia HI	Pacific Recovery Control center	N/A	Y

Postmark Variations

Ship	Description of Postmark	Scarcity
USS Ticonderoga	Hand Cancel - Ticonderoga at Bottom - Day of Recovery Used in Hawaii	Common
USS Ticonderoga	Machine Cancel - Day after Recovery Used aboard PRS - these are normally extremely light	Rare
USNS Vanguard	Cape Canaveral - 25 May - Launch	Common
USNS Vanguard	Mar Del Plata - 29 May - nearest port to tracking area	U/K
USNS Vanguard	Mar Del Plata - 29 May - different postmark - red	U/K
USNS Vanguard	Mar Del Plata - 6 June	U/K
USNS Vanguard	Jamaica - 13 Jul	U/K
USNS Vanguard	Cape Canaveral - 22 June - Recovery	U/K
USNS Vanguard	Unusual cancel Naval Ship Vanguard Skylab Mission without a date and without any other postmark. Comes in black, blue, aqua and maroon	Common
USNS Vanguard	Unusual cancel Naval Ship Vanguard Skylab Mission without a date over a Mar Del Plata postmark	U/K
USNS Redstone2	Cape Canaveral Hand Cancel - 25 May	Common
USNS Redstone2	Cape Canaveral Machine Cancel - 26 May	Common
Kunia HI4	25 May - Inner & Outer Space Printed Cachet	U/K
Kunia HI4	Inner & Outer Space General Skylab Cachet	U/K
Kunia HI	TF-130 cachet with postmarks for 14 May & 22 June	U/K
Norfolk VA	22 Jun Machine Cancel	Common
Norfolk VA	22 Jun Hand Cancel	Less Common
Norfolk VA4	22 Jun Dual Hand & Machine Cancels	Rare

Cachets

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Atlantic	Designed by Morris Beck it shows the Earth, capsule, parachute etc	Black	Rubber Stamp
Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Pacific	Designed by Morris Beck it shows the Earth, capsule, parachute etc	Maroon	Rubber Stamp
Beck Cachet - Atlantic	Similar to but larger than Navy Cachet	Blue-Orange-Black	Printed
Beck Cachet - Pacific	Similar to but larger than Navy Cachet	Green-Red-Black	Printed
TF-130	Manned Spacecraft Recovery Force - Pacific Shows a capsule & various Recovery Craft	Maroon, Black	Rubber Stamp
TF-140	Manned Spacecraft Recovery Force - Atlantic Shows a capsule in the ocean with parachutes	Black, Blue	Rubber Stamp

Navy Recovery Force Cachet Colours & Beck Cachet Numbers

Ship	Known Cachet Colours	Beck Numbers
USS Ticonderoga	Navy - Maroon	B888, B889
USS Escape	TF-140 - Black, Blue	None
Norfolk	Navy - Black TF-140 - Black	B890, B891

Interesting Cachets & Covers

Cachet	Description of Cachet	Colours	Type
USS Ticonderoga	JSC Stamp Club Cover	Multicolour	Printed
USS Grapple	Photo of Skylab plus ship's cachet	Black	Printed/Rubber Stamp
USS Grapple3	Two different cachets on a USS Grapple cover with a corner card	Black, Red	Rubber stamp
USS Escape	Skylab I Mission Emblem - Jacksonville pmk 30th	Blue	Rubber Stamp
USS Escape	Photo of ship - Cape Canaveral pmk 26th	Black	Printed
USNS Redstone6	A Bob Boudwin cover showing the mission emblem	Red	Rubber Stamp
Kunia HI4	Inner & Outer Space Printed Cachet	Red & Blue	Printed
Norfolk VA	Colourful Astro cachet shows capsule being recovered	Multicolour	Printed

Signed PRS Covers including Helicopter Recovery Covers - covers postmarked on 23rd were actually aboard the PRS during recovery

Postmark	Description of Cover	Postmark Date
USS Ticonderoga	Helicopter Recovery Cover marked 22 June 1973 and signed by the pilot & crew of one of the recovery helicopters	23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga	Helicopter Recovery Cover marked 22 June 1973 and signed by the pilot & co-pilot of the Swim-1 recovery helicopter	probably 23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga	PRS cover signed by 12 Recovery Frogmen (7 signatures are on the back).	23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga	PRS cover signed by Rear Admiral J.Butte Jr and the ship's Captain Norman Kenneth Green	23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga	A postcard and PRS cover signed by the ship's Captain Norman Kenneth Green	22 June 1973 23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga4	Helicopter Recovery Cover marked 22 June 1973 and signed by the pilot of one of the recovery helicopters	23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga5	A different helicopter Recovery Cover marked 22 June 1973 and signed by the pilot and crew of one of the recovery helicopters	probably 23 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga4	This unusual cover from the USS Ticonderoga is dated for the launch of Skylab 1 and is signed by the Skylab II medical team	14 May 1973
USS Ticonderoga5a	PRS cover with late postmark signed by 15 members of the medical team	28 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga	PRS cover with late postmark signed by 6 frogmen from the UDT #11 Team	29 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga	This cover was signed by the three Skylab 2 Astronauts. It was probably not aboard the PRS during recovery. See companion covers for Skylab 3 & 4.	22 June 1973
USS Ticonderoga5a	The cover was signed by Conrad, Kerwin, Weitz and the Swim-Team	? June 1973