posted 03-08-2026 12:31 PM               

Space Cover 848: Unique Prime Recovery Ship Covers

As I've mentioned in a previous Space Cover of the Week, one of the area of space covers that I collect are Prime Recovery Ship (PRS) covers.

The most common PRS covers have either a Morris Beck printed cachet or a rubber stamp cachet with the same image as the Morris Beck printed cachet (except for the first Beck printed PRS cover for MA-9 that has a different cachet than the rubber stamp cachet from the USS Kearsarge). In many cases there are more than one Beck PRS printed cachet for a mission with different 'Beck numbers' as well as PRS covers with both the rubber stamp cachet (RSC) and another cachet, such as an Artopage or Mission Emblem.

Then there are what I call 'unique' PRS covers that have multiple cancels or cachets that are uncommon. This SCOTW will highlight 'unique' prime recovery ship covers.

The first cover is a First Day Cover (FDC) for Project Mercury that was also cancelled for the recovery of Gordon Cooper during the MA-9 mission with the ship's RSC. What makes this PRS cover 'unique' is that not only is the cover a FDC for the Project Mercury stamp and a PRS cover for MA-9 but it also commemorates both the conclusion of the first manned Mercury orbital mission (MA-6 with John Glenn) and the last manned Mercury mission (MA-9 with Gordon Cooper). Although there may be other covers with this dual cancel this is the only one I've seen.

Another example of a 'unique' PRS cover is for the recovery of the Gemini 5 astronauts by the PRS USS Lake Champlain. This cover has a Cape Canaveral machine cancel for the launch of GT-5 on August 21, 1965 and a USS Lake Champlain machine cancel for the recovery of the GT-5 astronauts on August 29, 1965. It also has a black Beck RSC. It appears that this cover was cancelled at the Cape Canaveral postoffice for the GT-5 launch and flown (or mailed) to the USS Lake Champlain for the splashdown. If anyone has additional information on the history of this cover please let me know.

The third cover is also a GT-5 cover from the USS Lake Champlain with a Beck RSC, but this one is cancelled for both the launch of GT-5 on August 21, 1965 and the recovery on August 29, 1965. What makes this cover 'unique' is that it's a PRS cover that was cancelled for both the launch and recovery of a mission.

The last cover was cancelled for the recovery of the Apollo 11 crew by the USS Hornet on July 24, 1969. What makes this cover 'unique' is that the cover used was made by Art Craft for the First Day of Issue of the First Man on the Moon stamp on September 9, 1969. I don't know when these covers were first available so either they were available before July 24, 1969 or this cover was backdated. If anyone knows the history of this cover please let me know.

There are many other examples of 'unique' PRS covers. Let's see some of your favorites!

posted 03-09-2026 08:35 AM               

It is a 'return to port' cover for the primary recovery ship USS Stormes which fished the chimpanzee Enos out of the Atlantic after the Mercury-Atlas 5 mission.

It not only has two crisp USS Stormes cancellations on the front two postage stamps, but also has a completely different USS Stormes received postmark on the reverse.

posted 03-10-2026 11:37 AM               

The below cover is two-sided of an Apollo 13 PRS issue. On the front cover's surface depicts a nice blue rubber stamped cachet adding that the air mail label cover had been most likely flown on an assigned Navy SH-3D recovery task force helicopter in the south Pacific. It's signed by the pilot and contains a hand cancel of the USS Iwo Jima. Nice flown cover it would seem, however, on the cover's reverse side is the official PRS rubber stamp added at left as well.

The pilot's signature is Chuck B. Smiley, Captain USN, now deceased, known as the primary pilot of the Sikorsky's SH-3D Sea King helicopter, nicknamed "old 66," for picking up the astronaut crews of Apollo 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13 from 1968-70.

But at bottom right side is an autograph notation that reads: "Carried on the final step of a long journey, (signed) Fred Haise, Apollo 13 LMP." Unusual or not?