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  141120651225: Gemini 6 recovery patch replica?

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Author Topic:   141120651225: Gemini 6 recovery patch replica?
spaced out
Member

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 11-25-2013 01:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What do people think of this Gemini 6 recovery patch on eBay - item no. 141120651225?

It's difficult to judge without seeing it in person but I suspect it's a modern replica.

I don't know for sure that the Gemini 6 recovery patch on my site is a genuine vintage design but this appears to be a rough copy of that design, complete with a misreading of the "GTA-6" lettering as "GTA-G".

Another thing that made me very suspicious is what looks to be pen notations in Chinese characters on the reverse. Maybe this was even a pre-production sample for a replica.

Again this is only a suspicion. Maybe it's a genuine vintage patch...

mach3valkyrie
Member

Posts: 719
From: Albany, Oregon
Registered: Jul 2006

posted 11-25-2013 02:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mach3valkyrie   Click Here to Email mach3valkyrie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The pen notations look like fractional measurements to me. The bottom figures are 3 1/2 x 3 and I can make out 3/8, 1/2 on the top and a 1. The black threads in the Gemini and Agena on the front don't look the same as in your example, Chris. The back does look like a period piece to me.

If it's a reproduction, it's a pretty good one. Someone thought it was real anyway.

onesmallstep
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Posts: 1310
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007

posted 11-25-2013 02:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for onesmallstep   Click Here to Email onesmallstep     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It looks a lot like some of the official ship's cachet designs used on Gemini recovery covers.

spaced out
Member

Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 11-25-2013 04:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaced out   Click Here to Email spaced out     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I wouldn't really agree that it's a good reproduction if the people copying the text mistook the distorted "6" for a "G". That kind of misreading of lettering or numbering is a common mistake in reproductions.

The lower characters inked on the back are clearly numbers but the upper row still looks to me more like Chinese characters.

Also, although it could be a trick of the light the back looks an awful lot like it's coated with plastic.

JBoe
Member

Posts: 960
From: Churchton, MD
Registered: Oct 2012

posted 11-25-2013 04:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for JBoe   Click Here to Email JBoe     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I've seen the similar text format on Japanese patches, especially on military aircrew patches. If you closely on the back, it appears to be either Japanese or Chinese, or Taiwanese characters. It looks like the USS RUPERTUS was in Koashiung, Formosa in 1965 and served as a standby recovery ship.

fredtrav
Member

Posts: 1673
From: Birmingham AL
Registered: Aug 2010

posted 11-25-2013 05:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fredtrav   Click Here to Email fredtrav     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Also notice that it was bid up by the infamous "0" feedback bidder.

Ross
Member

Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 11-26-2013 07:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The position of the USS Rupertus for GT-6A/GT-7 is a good question. According to the deck log of the USS Orleck the USS Rupertus was moored at the Fleet Flotilla Berth, US Naval Base, Yokosuka, Japan on 20 December 1965.

BlueHalo
Member

Posts: 21
From: Boynton Beach, FL
Registered: Oct 2013

posted 12-02-2013 04:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for BlueHalo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's a reproduction made by Tiger Embroidery. You can get them to make it for you for about $10.00.

moorouge
Member

Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009

posted 12-02-2013 02:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for moorouge   Click Here to Email moorouge     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
With respect Ross, the deck log of the Orleck you quote doesn't say that she was moored with the Rupertus. The entry on 20th December says she was moored in a nest of five ships. The Rupertus is not mentioned in these.

However, the entry on 20th at 08.01 says simply that COMDESDIR 32 shifted his pennant from the Orleck to the Rupertus.

The Rupertus may well have been moored, but equally she may have been at sea within helicopter range.

All times are CT (US)

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