USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76
by Herb Rommel
November 2005 Cover of the Month
One of the least expensive ways for a cover collector to get a cover is to send an addressed stamped envelope to a US Navy ship and ask for the ship cachet and cancel to be applied. While sometimes a request will go unanswered or may take many months before receiving a reply, most ships will promptly service the cover and send it to the recipient.
This cover was received compliments of long time USCS member Herb Rommel. (Herb is a USCS past-president.) Herb used a stamps.com postage label created by USCS member Karl Zurn. The label features a photo of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. And the cover is cancelled aboard the Ronald Reagan and the ship’s rubber stamp cachet was applied. The cachet is impression is crisp and features the ship’s moto “Peace through Strength”, a trait of President Ronald Reagan whose build up of the military helped to end the Cold War. The cover was cancelled with a Type 11 cancel.
The use of stamps.com postage opens a new way to make naval covers. Think of the possibilities of using stamps with a photograph of the actual ship the cover is to be posted aboard or even generic ship images. This is a reminder that not all naval cover collecting focuses on decades old covers.
Herb, we thank you very much for this neat cover.