posted 09-15-2026 07:52 PM               

Space Cover 873: USS Barbero – The Deputy Cover

Most space collectors have heard of/seen the cover of the June 8, 1959, U.S. Navy and Post Office Department first and only OFFICIAL "Missile Mail" experiment from the USS Barbero. In this post I'll give you some details you may not be aware of.

The Postmaster General, Arthur E. Summerfield, designated the submarine as a temporary post office and 3,000 pieces of mail were collected in Norfolk, Virginia and given a USS Barbero postmark. Then, Arthur Summerfield helped place two blue and red metal containers, holding the 3,000 letters, inside the sub's missile prior to the flight. The metal containers were painted red and blue; the colors used at the time for mailboxes and marked "US Mail." These containers occupied space that was originally designed to hold the missile's nuclear warhead.

The 3,000 covers were addressed to President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, cabinet members, top federal officials, members of congress, Supreme Court justices, governors, postmasters general from around the world, other dignitaries, and the officers and crew of the Barbero. Thus, covers can be found with both domestic (four cent) and international (eight cent – 2 of the four cent stamps) postage.

On June 8th, the U.S. Navy fired the Regulus I missile from the USS Barbero submarine and directed it to land at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Mayport, Florida, near Jacksonville. The missile was fired from the submarine shortly before noon and arrived at Mayport twenty-two minutes later. After the missile landed at Mayport, the letters weren't distributed directly from there — instead, the mail was forwarded to a post office in Jacksonville, Florida, for sorting and routing to their many worldwide destinations. A Jacksonville postmark backstamp was added before departing the post office.

Summerfield hailed the feat as a breakthrough for postal delivery, claiming that "This peacetime employment of a guided missile for the important and practical purpose of carrying mail, is the first known official use of missiles by any Post Office Department of any nation. Before man reaches the moon, mail will be delivered within hours from New York to California, to Britain, to India or Australia by guided missiles." Despite his enthusiasm, the demonstration was largely symbolic— the missile employed a then state-of-the-art guidance system that could precisely deliver a thermonuclear weapon from a distance of six hundred miles, while the trip from the USS Barbero to Mayport was only one hundred miles , illustrating the technology's Cold War-era accuracy rather than practical mail logistics. In the end, Summerfield's enthusiasm notwithstanding, the 1959 USS Barbero test firing was the only incidence of using a missile to carry mail under the direction of the Post Office Department in the US, and the concept of Post Office "missile mail" never developed beyond this single experiment.

Here is an image of the "Official Missile Mail" from The Postmaster General and the enclosed letter from Summerfield. This cover was sent to Ivy Baker Priest who was United States Treasurer at the time of the launch.

Sources depicting the 3,000 covers describe them as "identical" ... NOT TRUE!!!!

From a philatelic point of view there are a couple of differences.

First, there are different postage values for domestic and international mailing as mentioned earlier.

Second, there are two different envelope types. Type I: has a watermark of official eagle and seal with the flap of the envelope with rounded corners and the cachet is greyish black. Type II: thinner paper, no watermark, flap of the envelope has sharp corners, and cachet is intense black. Note that the Ellington-Zwisler Rocket Mail Catalog lists Type I covers as a 50% increase in price over Type II covers with no reason given.

The biggest difference, however, is the existence of covers from The Deputy Postmaster General!!! As pictured at the top of this post, in the mailing to then Deputy Postmaster General Edson Sessions, it is identical to The Postmaster General cover except for the corner card wording: "The Deputy Postmaster General." This cover is a Type II envelope.

While the Postmaster General version can be readily found and seen in many images online. I have only ever seen two copies of The Deputy Postmaster General covers. Unfortunately, there was no letter with the cover, so I don't know if it is a similar letter to Summerfield's or not. I do not know who the second copy is addressed to or if it has a letter or not.

Given the existence of The Deputy Postmaster General covers in the 3,000 cover count – there were actually LESS than 3,000 The Postmaster General covers. Exact quantity distribution between The Postmaster General and The Deputy Postmaster General covers is unknown. Similarly, the quantity distribution between Type I and Type II envelopes is unknown. The Type I and Type II covers exist for The Postmaster General covers while Type II is known for The Deputy Postmaster General covers, it is unknown if Type I versions exist.

This event was not publicized in advance. Along with the press release about the event, a number of unflown covers with no date in the postmark and no Jacksonville backstamp were distributed. Per the Ellington-Zwisler catalog, 100 of these unflown examples were created.

Because there was no public announcement beforehand some stamp collectors wrote to the postal service to complain that they were not given the opportunity to send mail on the missile. To attempt to placate collectors, a "Point of Landing First Official Missile Mail" cover was created with a Mayport, FLA cancel of July 8, 1959, on the one-month anniversary and a second edition on June 8, 1960, on the one-year anniversary. The cover contained a foldup insert with a write-up and photos of the flight.

Per the Ellington-Zwisler catalog 6,000 of the one-month anniversary covers were created. There was no quantity listed for the one-year anniversary cover.

At this point in time, George Goldey was a space cover servicer and was producing both covers and "cover pages" which would display the covers in an album. The pages had a description of the event and a place to mount the associated Goldcraft cover. For this event, Goldey produced his only cover page that was not for a cover he produced. Part of his description reads: "Navy Personnel at Mayport, Florida issued a First Day of Landing First Official Missile Mail souvenir cover for U.S. Philatelic Collectors to commemorate the first Missile Mail dubbed 'Summerfield's Folly'. The first mail was sent to high government officials with Postmaster Summerfield ignoring U.S. Stamp and Cover Collectors. The Mayport Covers went to 3,500 collectors..."

So open questions on The Deputy Postmaster General covers:

• How many were produced?
• Was the letter the same as Summerfield's but signed by Sessions?
• Who were they addressed to? Only deputy postmaster generals?
• Domestic only or domestic and international mailing?
• Exist on both types of envelopes?

Do you have any details/covers to share related to this Missile Mail?

posted 09-27-2026 05:52 PM               

While I have not seen any of the scarce "Deputy PMG" cover types myself, perhaps just a little bit more information about them could be added.

First, the letters inside were all identical with the same letter content with facsimile signatures of the PMG.