| Ship | Type | Designation | Covers |
| Atlantic | |||
| USS Intrepid | PRS - Carrier | CVS-11 | Y |
| USS Ault | SRS - Destroyer | DD-698 | Y |
| USS Bigelow | SRS - Destroyer | DD-942 | Y |
| USS Boston | SRS - Heavy Cruiser | CA-68 | Y |
| USS Cony | SRS - Anti-Sub Destroyer | DD-508 | Y |
| USCGC Diligence (and another1 ) | SRS - Cutter | WMEC-616 | Y (Rare) |
| USS Harold J Ellisonii | SRS - Destroyer | DD-864 | Y |
| USS Douglas H Fox | SRS - Destroyer | DD-779 | Y |
| USS Harwood3 (and another5a) | SRS - Destroyer | DD-861 | Y(Rare) |
| USS John Paul Jones | SRS - Guided Missile Destroyer | DD-32 | Y |
| USS Kankakee | SRS - Oiler | AO-39 | Y |
| USS Mullinnix | SRS - Destroyer | DD-944 | Y |
| USS Nipnuc | SRS - Fleet Ocean Tug | AFT-157 | Y (Rare) |
| USS Robert A. Owens | SRS - Destroyer | DD-827 | Y (Difficult) |
| USS Rich | SRS - Destroyer | DD-820 | Y |
| USS Sarsfield | SRS - Anti-Sub Destroyer | DDE-837 | Y |
| USS Sturdy2 | SRS - Ocean Minesweeper | MSO-494 | Y (Rare) |
| USS Swerve | SRS - Ocean Minesweeper | MSO-495 | Y (Rare) |
| USCGC Vigilant2 | SRS - Gunboat | WPC-617 | Y (Rare) |
| USS Robert L Wilson | SRS - Destroyer | DD-847 | Y |
| Tracking & Communications Ships | |||
| USNS Rose Knot | TS - Between Hawaii and California | T-AGM 14 | Y |
| USNS Coastal Sentry | TS - Southern Indian Ocean | T-AGM 15 | Y |
| USNS Range Tracker | TS - Position Unknown | T-AGM 1 | Y |
| USNS Kingsport | Communications Relay Ship - Southern Indian Ocean | T-AG 164 | Y |
| Not Involved | |||
| USS Turner - Also see Gemini 2 | Destroyer | DDE-834 | Y |
| USNS Sunnyvale6 | Tracking Ship | T-AGM 5 | Y |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet Gemini 2 |
See Navy Cachet for Gemini 2 | Maroon,Blue,Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Navy Recovery Force Cachet Gemini 3 |
Designed by Morris Beck it shows a Gemini capsule |
Maroon,Blackii | Rubber Stamp |
| Beck Cachet | Similar to Gemini 3 Navy Cachet | Yellow-Blue | Printed |
| Orbit Cachet | Complex Printed Cachet showing Astronauts and Rocket etc - Navy Cachet usually on Back | Green | Printed |
| Sokolsky Cachet? | A small cachet showing a Gemini capsule | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| GT-3 Cachet | A small circular text cachet usually appears as an extra cachet. Produced by Morris Beck | Red / Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 1 | GT-3 GEMINI ASTRONAUTS etc. | Purple | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 2 | GT-3 MOLLY BROWN GEMINI-TITAN 3 | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 3 | PROJECT GEMINI GT-3 US NAVY Recovery Force etc. | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 4 | US NAVY SHIPS ON STATION FOR GEMINI ASTRONAUTS | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 5 | GRISSOM MANEUVERS THE GEMINI 3 etc. | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Gordon Cachet Type 6 | Various S/H stamp like photos | Greyscale | Self-Adhesive |
| GT-3 Text Cachet | 'Project Gemini GT-3 US Navy Recovery Force Grissom & Young' - So far only found on US Rich covers | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| Satellite Cachet | Small cachet shows satellites in orbit | Black | Printed |
| Ship | Description of Postmark | Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| USS Intrepid | Machine Cancel | Common |
| USS Intrepid | Hand cancel | Extremely Rareiii |
| USS Kankakee | Time Slug below Date | Common |
| USS Kankakee | Time Slug above Date | Rare |
| USS Rich | Normal Postmark | Common |
| USS Rich | Postmark missing Time and Year slugs possibly due to poor ink coverage | U/K |
|
Ship |
Known Cachet Colours |
Beck Numbers |
|
|
GT-2 |
GT-3 |
||
| USS Intrepid | Maroon, Purple, Blackv | 515, 520 | |
| USS Ault | Maroon | None | |
| USS Bigelow | Blue | None | |
| USS Boston | Maroon | only crew covers known | |
| USS Cony | Black | None | |
| USS Harold J Ellison | Variousii | 525, 526 | |
| USS Douglas H Fox | Maroon | 516, 519 | |
| USS Harwood | Maroon | None | |
| USS John Paul Jones | Maroon | Maroon | 527, 528 |
| USS Kankakee | Maroon | None | |
| USS Mullinnix | Maroon | Maroon | 523, 524 |
| USS Robert Owensiv | Maroon | See GT-4 | |
| USS Rich | U/K | None | |
| USS Sarsfield | Black | 517, 518, 529 | |
| USS Robert L Wilson | Black | Black | None |
| Cachet | Description of Cachet | Colours | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Intrepid4 | Navy cachet on ship's printed stationary - Rare - And a second example5b | various | Rubber Stamp Printed |
| USS Intrepid1 | Navy cachet on Admiral's Stationary - Rare | Maroon | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Intrepid | Unusual Black Pictorial Label on an Orbit Cover shows an Aircraft Carrier. Also known in Blue7. | Black or Blue | Printed/ Self Adhesive |
| USS Mullinnix | Navy cachet on ship's printed stationary - Rare | Maroon / Aqua | Rubber Stamp Printed |
| USS Bigelow5b | Navy cachet on ship's printed stationary - Rare - Also the postmark is blue | Blue / Brown | Rubber Stamp Printed |
| USS Harold J Ellisonii | Ship's cachet - usually on the back of the cover | various | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Robert L Wilson2 | Interesting cover from the Commander Destroyer Division 362 | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Robert L Wilson5b | Ship's cachet in addition to Navy cachet | Black / Black | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Swerve1 | Unusual Cachet | Aqua | Rubber Stamp |
| USS Rich9 | Navy cachet - For some reason this cachet is rare | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Corpus Christi | Navy cachet with a Corpus Christi postmark | Black | Rubber Stamp |
| Postmark | Description of Cover | Postmark Date |
|---|---|---|
| USS Intrepid | Signed by the Commanding Officer, Captain J. Smith plus Grissom & Young (autopens?) | 23 March 1965 |
| USS Intrepid5 | Signed by the Pilot & Co-pilot of the Recovery Helicopter - Rare | 23 March 1965 |
Notes General:
i) The NASA Mission Report lists the Recovery Forces as consisting of 19 ships, including a Carrier, 12 Destroyers, a Crusier, a Coast Guard Cutter, an Oiler, a Salvage type ship plus two unidentified ships. All other reports list 20 ships.
ii) The USS Ellison is a special case - Covers also include the ship's cachet, usually on the back
iii) A Beck (B520) cover with a hand cancel is reported in Ray Cartier's 'Primary Recovery Ship Cover Handbook'. However this appears to have been added when the usual machine cancel missed the stamp. Only one other hand cancel has been reported, on a Beck designed Navy RSC cover. In October 2009 another cover with the scarce hand cancel was sold on eBay and another one was also sold.
iv) Only covers with Navy cachets exist. Beck cacheted covers were sent to the wrong ship and later used for GT-4. See the note that was returned with the covers.
v) Only four covers are known
This page © Dr Ross J Smith
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Last modified on 15 June 2024
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