| Ship | Type | Designation | Covers |
| Atlantic | |||
| USS Austin | SRS - Amphibious Transport | LPD-4 | Y |
| USS York County | SRS - Tank Landing Ship | LST-1175 | Y |
| USS Hoist | SRS - Salvage Ship | ARS-40 | Y |
| USS Joseph P Kennedy | SRS - Destroyer | DD-850 | Y |
| USS Sabine | SRS - Oiler | AO-25 | Y |
| Pacific | |||
| USS Bennington | PRS - Carrier | CVS-20 | Y |
| USS Carpenter1 | SRS - Destroyer | DD-825 | Y (Scarce) |
| Recovery Control Centers | |||
| Kennedy Space Centerii | Liftoff Control Center | N/A | Y |
| Norfolk2 | Manned Spacecraft Recovery Force - Atlantic | N/A | Y |
| Tracking & Communication Ships | |||
| USNS Vanguard | TS - Atlantic | T-AGM 19 | Y |
| USNS Rose Knot | TS - Pacific | T-AGM 14 | Y |
| USNS Range Trackeriv | TS - Pacific | T-AGM 1 | N |
| Not Involved | |||
| USNS Redstone | Tracking Ship | T-AGM 20 | Y |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navy AS 501 Cachet - Atlantic |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows a Seal |
Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Navy AS 501 Cachet - Pacific |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows a Seal |
Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Navy AS 204 Cachetii |
Designed by Morris Beck for AS-204 (Apollo 1) it shows an Apollo Command Capsule |
Maroon, Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Beck AS 501 Cachet - Atlantic | Similar to Navy Cachet | Black | Printed |
| Beck AS 501 Cachet - Pacific | Similar to Navy Cachet | Red | Printed |
| Beck AS 204 Cachetii | Similar to Navy Cachet | Green-Black | Printed |
| Orbit Cachet | Printed cachet with Navy Cachet on back | Green, Maroon | Printed / Rubber Stamp |
| AS 501 Cachet | A small circular text cachet usually appears as an extra cachet. Produced by Morris Beck. | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Unknown Cachet 1a | Splashdown & Recovery Operation | Black | Printed |
| Unknown Cachet 1b | Splashdown & Recovery Operation - Different | Black | Printed |
| Ship | Description of Postmark | Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| USS Bennington | Machine Canceliii | Common |
| USS Bennington | Hand Cancel | Less Common |
| USS Carpenter1 | Hand Cancel | Scarce |
| USS Carpenter BR. New York1 | Red | Scarce |
| USS York County | PM Time Slug | Common |
| USS York County | AM Time Slug | Less Common |
|
Ship |
Known Cachet Colours |
Beck Numbers |
| USS Austin | Black | 732 |
| USS York County | Black | 746 |
| USS Joseph P Kennedy | Maroon | 733 |
| USS Sabine | Black | 731 |
| USS Bennington | Maroon | 727, 728, 729, 730 |
| Kennedy Space Centerii | Maroon, Black | 716, 717, 718, 719, 720 |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Bennington | Late Postmark - Return to Port? | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Bennington | Apollo 3 man spacecraft & AS-501 Recovery Force cachets | Aqua | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Bennington | Interesting Navy cachet with part blanked out | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Various | Splashdown and Recovery Operation cachet shows capsule on parachute & rescue ships | Black | Printed |
| USS Sabine2 | USS Sabine postmark on a Beck B733 printed cover (B733 was reserved for the USS Joseph P. Kennedy). Also has a Norfolk postmark. | Black | Printed |
| Cape Canaverali | AS-501 posponed from 6 Nov. to the 9 Nov. | Black | Printed |
| Kennedy Space Center | Standard KSC cover with 2nd upside down postmark | Maroon | Rare |
| Kennedy Space Center5 | Standard KSC cover with an added NASA AS501 Apollo Mission 4 cachet | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Bennington | Both the cachet & postmark are fakes. Believed to be done by a prisioner | Purple | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Bennington4 | Another example of the fake. Believed to be done by a prisioner | Purple | Rubber Stamp |
Notes General:
i) Cover is incorrectly labelled. Nov 6 was actually the start of phase 2 of the countdown and, as usual, included several holds. There appears to be no evidence that any of these lead to a postponment.
ii) These cachets were produced for Apollo 1 (AS 204) and after the fire, kept until this mission
iii) Many USS Bennington machine cancels are relatively light
iv) There is doubt as to whether the USNS Range Tracker was involved
Notes Other:
1) From the collection of Dennis Paul
2) From the collection of Tom Steiner
3) See 'Study of Suspect Space Covers' 2nd Edition, Paul C. Bulver et. al., Compact Disk(2001)
4) From the collection of David Ball via collectSPACE
5) From the collection of Timothy Preston
This page © Dr Ross J Smith
This page is maintained by the Webmaster
Last modified on 11 May 2024
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