Introduction

This page depicts philatelic covers created to commemorate the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll in 1946. These covers include some offical cachets made in Washington, as well as cachets made for the individual ships. The demand for these cachets was enormous, as the quote below illustrates:

"Upon our return to Bikini we assumed our primary mission which was to provide a floating Fleet Post Office for Joint Task Force One and supporting elements. The tank deck of the LST 861 had been transformed into a large post office and furnished mail service for every ship and element of Joint Task Force One. I suppose every captain`s gig , duty launch, LCVPs, and other small boats from the fleet came alongside each day with Guard and personal mail. We opened the LST bow doors, creating a dock, to make it easy to come alongside and enter the tank deck. There were mountains of mail - incoming and outgoing !

A unique aspect of the Fleet Post Office operation was the sacks of mail we got from the philatelic community, all over the world, asking for cancellations of stamps with the atom bomb test cancellation cachet. Each collector sent 20-30 stamped envelopes to be hand cancelled. Two cachets were used - one for the Able shot and one for the Baker shot. Sailors were assigned to "hand cancel" these letters with special hand stamps in lieu of the machine cancellation (which may have smeared the stamps). There must have been thousands of these letters. I recall no limit to the outside (non-participants) number of requests for cancellation but another post on this web page states the fleet participants were allowed only four envelopes per man. They are probably becoming hard to find now." [Source: Operation Crossroads US Atomic Veterans Rod Van Ausdall (http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/van.htm)].

USS Appalachian (AGC-1)
USS Bountiful (AH-9)
USG Kenneth Whitting (AV-14)
USS Pensacola (CA-24)
USS Pilot Fish (SS-386)
USS Shangri La (CV-38)
USS Saidor (CVE-117)
USS Turner (DD-834)

A complete list of non-target ships involved in Operation Crossroads can be found here.

Generic Covers

Carriers

Cruisers

Destroyers

Submarines

Support Ships