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Author
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Topic: USS Decatur Mercury-Atlas 4 cachet
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Ross
Member Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-20-2018 10:20 AM
   
I have just purchased the below cover, which has a late postmark after Mercury-Atlas 4. But what interests me is the cachet. I've never seen a cover postmarked during the MA-4 mission with this cachet. If it wasn't available during the mission when was it first used? Does anyone have a cover with this cachet postmarked earlier than Nov. 1 1961?  |
Eddie Bizub
Member Posts: 81
From: Kissimmee, FL USA
Registered: Aug 2010
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posted 08-20-2018 05:46 PM
Ross, the story of the MA-4 U.S.S. Decatur covers was written up in the Space Unit's Astrophile a number of years ago. Unfortunately I do not have access to my copy at this time but I will go from memory. When the spacecraft was picked up by U.S.S. Decatur, the postal clerk J. Felt recognized the significance of the event and he gathered up all the ship's postal stationary he could find. He then added stamps to the envelopes and cancelled them on the recovery date of 9/13/61. He then made them available to the crew. If I remember correctly, there was upwards of 100 available and in a couple if different versions. The entire ship was extremely proud of their part in one of the early recoveries of the U.S. space program. Felt later decided to have a cachet drawn up to commemorate the event that he would apply to outgoing mail for both the crew and collectors of naval covers. It is not known when the cachet was drawn up or when it was first applied but it definitely was not available on the recovery day of 9/13/61. It was stated that the cachet was used for some time after the event for all outgoing mail from the ship. I have a similar cover to yours in my collection with the 11/1/61 cancel. It is the date of the Mercury Scout launch but this launch was not intended to be recovered as it was launched to test the Mercury tracking system. It is the only date I have seen with the MA-4 cachet applied. |
thisismills
Member Posts: 263
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 08-20-2018 08:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Eddie Bizub:
It is the only date I have seen with the MA-4 cachet applied.
There are several dates with the cachet after Nov. 1st, 1961, here are a few examples: |
Ross
Member Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 08-23-2018 10:02 AM
Thanks for those replies. It looks like Nov 1 may be the first use of the cachet. I also have another similar cover with a different unknown signature, also dated Nov 1. |
Cozmosis22
Member Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 11-13-2018 01:11 PM
Came across this USS Decatur cover with a date noted earlier by "thisismills". Interestingly, both of these examples were signed by the ship's commander and sent to collectors in Germany.Wondering what the significance is, if any, of April 14, as it was in between the flights of Glenn and Carpenter back in 1962?  |
thisismills
Member Posts: 263
From: Michigan
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 01-20-2019 07:16 PM
Still haven't found any earlier than Nov 1, but here is another date I hadn't seen before. May 5th, 1962. Guessing it was made for the first anniversary of Shepard's flight. |
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