posted 06-12-2011 09:58 AM               

A Project Apollo Admiral's cover is shown for USS Hornet's recovery of the Apollo 12 crew after the second Apollo Moon landing, successful return to Earth, and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, November 24, 1969. The USS Hornet task force, CTF-130, is under the operational command of the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, CINCPACFLT, the originator of this Admiral's cover for completion of the Apollo 12 mission.

America's third successful lunar mission is made by the Apollo 14 crew. Upon completion of the mission, the crew is recovered by USS New Orleans in the Pacific Ocean, February 9, 1971. USS New Orleans is under the operational command of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, CINCPACFLT, for the mission. The Apollo Admiral's cover above is cancelled on the recovery date of the mission.

A third example of an Apollo Admiral's cover is displayed for the successful lunar mission, splashdown, and recovery in the Pacific of the Apollo 16 crew by USS Ticonderoga, April 27, 1972. The ship is under the operational command of CINCPACFLT for the mission. The Admiral's cover pictured is cancelled on the mission's splashdown and recovery date.

Space Cover #113: Project Apollo Admirals' Covers

Practically everyone knows what Captains' covers are for Project Apollo. These are the covers originated by the ship's Commanding Officer or under his direction by the ship's captain's office during a shipboard recovery. Much more difficult to collect and a much greater challenge for space cover collectors is trying to collect Admirals' covers associated with the Apollo recoveries.

Of special note are Admirals' recovery ship covers originated by the Commander Task Force-130, the immediate on-scene Admiral in command of the task force of which the primary recovery ship is assigned, and covers originated by the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, the overall U.S. Navy operational commander of the Pacific theater of operations. For Project Apollo, all of the primary recovery ship recoveries were made in the Pacific Ocean with the exception of Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo flight, and the only Apollo recovery made in the Atlantic Ocean.

While larger in size than typical primary recovery ship Captains' covers, Admirals' covers are real gems to find and richly reward the space cover collector who is fortunate to find them. Admirals' covers in small numbers are believed to exist for all of the Apollo missions, but they may be extremely difficult to find. However, they can be found and with the information presented in this Space Cover of the Week article, may answer the collectors' question, "What in the world are these?" when they are seen. They are extremely collectible; don't pass them by. Good hunting!