Apollo 11 - USS New

For Apollo 11 an examination of covers from the USS New makes for an interesting study. For the first and only time Morris Beck produced two slightly different Atlantic Fleet rubber cachets for the Navy to use, one with a standard view of the Lunar Lander and the second with a view of the Lunar Lander from a different angle . As well, the USS New used two quite different postmarks, one with the time slug above the day and one with the time slug below the day. This makes for a possible total of four covers with a Morris Beck produced Navy cachet. In addition, Beck produced his usual printed cachet with two different numbers being sent to the USS New, B806 and B807. This plus the usual Beck Crew Cover leads to an additional six covers to collect. Finally, there are a small unknown number of covers with other cachets.

With regard to the Navy cachets, the one with a standard view of the Lander is the most common with the other one quite difficult to find. Of the two postmarks, neither is hard to find with the time slug below the day being slightly more plentiful. However, for many years I was only able to find three of the four combinations, with the non-standard Lander cachet combined with the time slug below the day being the missing one. Finally I found one example which to this day is the only example I've seen. So keep your eye open for this rare variety.

Navy Cachets

Beck Printed Cachets

Beck Crew Covers

Other Cachets

Notes:
1) Scans with blue borders provided by Owen Murray's 'Morris W. Beck US Navy Covers' website.