| Ship | Type | Designation | Covers |
| Atlantic | |||
| USS Guadalcanal | PRS - Carrier | LPH-7 | Y |
| USS Algol | SRS - Amphibious Cargo Ship | LKA-54 | Y |
| USS Paiute | SRS - Fleet Ocean Tug | AFT-159 | Y |
| USNS Vanguardi | SRS - Tracking Ship (Dual Role) | T-AGM-19 | Y |
| Pacific | |||
| USS Cochrane | SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer | DDG-21 | Y |
| USS Leonard F. Mason | SRS - Destroyer (A Colour Variation) | DD-852 | Y |
| USS Nicholas | SRS - Anti-Sub Destroyer | DD-449 | Y |
| Tracking & Communication Ships | |||
| USNS Redstone | TS - Pacific | T-AGM 20 | Y |
| USNS Huntsville | TS - Pacific | T-AGM 7 | Y |
| USNS Vanguardi,iv | TS - Atlantic | T-AGM 19 | Y |
| USNS Mercury | TS - Pacific | T-AGM 21 | Y |
| Recovery Control Center | |||
| Norfolk VA | Atlantic Recovery Control Center | N/A | Y |
| Kunia HI | Pacific Recovery Control Center | N/A | Y (scarce) |
| Ship | Description of Postmark | Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| USS Guadalcanal | Hand Cancel - Guadalcanal at Top | Common |
| USS Guadalcanal | Hand Cancel - Guadalcanal at Bottom | Common |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Atlantic |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo rocket |
Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet - Pacific |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo rocket |
Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet Apollo 7 Cachet with the 7 removed - Atlantic |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows an Apollo Capsule |
Maroon, Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Beck Cachetii - Pacific 1 | Similar to Navy Cachet - Should be Atlantic | Blue | Printed |
| Beck Cachetii - Pacific 2 | Similar to Navy Cachet | Green | Printed |
| Artopages | Artopages cachet with a maroon Navy cachet on back of cover. See also USS Guadalcanal and USS Nicholas and USS Algol | Orange & Blue | Printed |
| Orbit Cachet3a | Complex Printed Cachet showing Astronauts and Rocket etc - Navy Cachet usually on Back | Green | Printed |
| Gordon Cachet Type 1 | APOLLO 9 SPLASHDOWN A-OK | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 25 | APOLLO 9 SPLASHES DOWN NEAR CARRIER etc. | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Unknown Cachet Type 1 | Shows the crew plus the combined Command & Lunar modules | Green | Printed |
|
Ship |
Known Cachet Colours |
Beck Numbers |
| USS Guadalcanal | Apollo 7 - Maroon, Black Apollo 9 - Black |
782 (Blue) |
| USS Algol | Apollo 7 - Maroon, Black Apollo 9 - Maroon, Black |
783, 784 (Blue) |
| USS Cochrane | Apollo 7 - Apollo 9 - Maroon |
780 (Green) |
| USS Leonard F. Mason | Apollo 7 - Apollo 9 - Maroon |
None |
| USS Nicholas | Apollo 7 - Apollo 9 - Maroon, Black |
778, 779,781 (all Green) |
| USS Vanguard | Apollo 7 - Apollo 9 - Black |
784 (Blue) |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Guadalcanal | Unusual Map of Central America & Atlantic Cachet | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal | Beck B782 cacheted cover with hand cancel and with PACIFIC blacked out and replaced with ATLANTIC. Very unusual. | Blue | Printed |
| USS Guadalcanal | Mission Emblem cover - Ship's name on bottom | Multicolour | Printed |
| USS Guadalcanal | Mission Emblem cover - Ship's name on top | Multicolour | Printed |
| USS Guadalcanal | 'Return to Norfolk' cover - pmk Mar 16 1969 - Navy cachet | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal | Postcard showing Apollo 9 Astronauts with Guadalcanal at top of postmark | Blue | Printed |
| USS Guadalcanal | Great postcard showing Apollo 9 Astronauts with Guadalcanal at bottom of postmark plus ship's and Navy cachets | Blue / Black | Printed Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal | Aerogram has both a NASA Apollo 9 cachet on the front and a Navy Apollo 9 cachet on the back | Maroon / Black | Possibly Unique |
| USS Guadalcanal | Great Britain Stampsiii - Ship bottom of pmk | Black (on Back) | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal2 | Great Britain Stampsiii - Ship top of postmark | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal4 | Interesting cover from a member of the Associated Press with Navy and extra Lunar Module cachets | Black / Black | Printed Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal1 | Unusual blue cachet | Blue | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal3b | Netherlands postcard and stamps with Navy cachet | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Guadalcanal1 | With a USNS Range Recoverer corner card and cachet | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Nicholas | Great Britain Stampsiii - Navy cachet on back | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Nicholas | Great Britain Stampiii - Another example | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Nicholas | Society of Israel Philatelics cover | B&W | Printed |
| Norfolk | Double postmark (one is upside down) and black NASA cachet. An example without the 2nd postmark' | Black / Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Paiute | 2nd postmark upside down | Black | Rare |
| USNS Redstone | Blue Apollo 9 capsule cachet plus Tracking Ship text cachet | Blue & Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Atlantic Recovery Force | Navy Apollo 9 Cachet - Cape Canaveral postmark 26 Mar 1969 |
Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Atlantic Recovery Force | Navy Apollo 7 Cachet with the 7 removed - Cape Canaveral - postmark 26 Mar 1969 | Maroon , Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Philatelic Advice | Notice detailing Philatelic arrangements for Apollo 9 | N/A | N/A |
| Postmark | Description of Cover | Postmark Date |
|---|---|---|
| Cover signed by the Executive Officer | 13 March 1969 | |
| Cover signed by the Commanding Officer, Capt. Roy M. Sudduth | 13 March 1969 | |
| USS Guadalcanal | Great cover with Commanding Officer Anti-Submarine Squadron corner card and signature plus rare postmark variation | 13 March |
| Cover signed by 4 members of the UDT team | 13 March 1969 | |
| USS Guadalcanal3 | Helicopter Recovery Cover signed by the Air Boss | 13 March 1969 |
General Notes:
i) the USNS Vanguard had a dual role, firstly as a tracking ship and then it was moved to a different
position and acted as a Secondary Recovery Ship. Hence, two quite different cachets exist.
ii) The Beck covers for this mission are unusual. Although two different colours were produced as usual, both contained the 'Pacific' label. It can only be assumed that the blue coloured cachet was meant to be for the Altantic fleet and the die was incorrectly made with a Pacific label. It's also interesting that only the Vanguard cachet was overprinted with the word 'Altantic'. It is believed that this was added by the ship.
iii) See article which shows that non USA stamps should not be used.
iv) Both blue and red USNS Vanguard corner cards are known.
Other Notes:
1) From the collection of Tom Steiner
2) From the collection of Antoni Rigo
3) Sold on eBay during 2014 a) 2017 b) 2020
4) From the collection of Joseph Volutza
5) From the collection of Timothy Preston
This page © Dr Ross J Smith
This page is maintained by the Webmaster
Last modified on 24 August 2024
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