"Ol' salty" on a San Francisco's dock.I've found it at a local flea market.
The stencil tells its story,that is if you know how to read them.Here we have a real ww2 N1 who's owner was a crew member onboard the USS SPERRY [ AS12] .The ship was launched in december of 1941 in California.The AS12 was a submarine tender .Tenders were ships able to support,supply and even fix submarines at sea,as the were equipped with workshops.In that case,the jacket's owner was assigned to USS 227 ,aka DARTER.The DARTER was a submarine launched on june 1943 .It sank 3 Japanese ships during its 1944 campaign,but was grounded on a reef ,while pursuing a damaged Japanese cruiser.Efforts to get the submarine off the shoal failed so it was abandoned to the elements .
Frontal view of a "clean" N1.The contract # on the tag,tells us it's from around september 1944.I've been asked many times what the NXSX prefix means .Well!! i'll try to make it simple... N-is for naval.XS-is the designation for the bureau of supplies and accounts.The bureau that oversees all contracting bureaus ,such as,Aeronautics,Ordonance and so on ....The last designation represents the cognizant bureau which account is for.here X represents the bureau of supplies and accounts .In this case NXSX means the bureau of supplies and accounts awarded itself a contract.....got it !!? 
Was harry in the navy !!?? Close up of the special cord fabric .
Gotta love the patina .Today's post showcases 2 examples of the same jacket : the N1 US navy deck jacket .As the longest serving jacket in US navy history,the N1 is probably the most beloved and copied piece of clothing,maybe second only to the pea coat.The N1 jacket first appeared in 1944 and is the result of numerous changes and lessons learned from 2 years of warfare under the most challenging conditions.The result is a perfect piece of garment, perhaps the ultimate cold weather jacket .the N1 served navy men up until the 60's,when stock were exhausted and it was superseded by the A-2.Needless to say that the older it gets the better it looks,as wear and tears ad to its character. Just look at the 2 jackets pictured above .Both are from ww2 .One is almost dead stock from the early part of 1944 and the other "has been there and done that".
Patrick, I've been buried in your blog all weekend and gotta say it's great stuff, Im loving it all and am so jealous that you're in the states and everything is so much more accessible, still I do my best and find what I can, check my blog too it would seem we have much in common. Bizarre at times but I can't help but think how many more friends we could have if we didn't have oceans seperating us all. Keep it up! The Papa.
ReplyDeletedear papa ......thx for your kind comments about my blog .it's the beauty of the net my friend ..we can connect and share our mutual passions even if there's an ocean between us .we are friends already and if by any chance you decide to swing by SF let me know .i do check your blog by the way and love it ........and as the king will say TCB /\/
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