STILL ON PATROL.....USN SUBMARINES

USS PAMPANITO's "kill flag .6 war missions,6kills and 4 damaged ships. the cross and # 73 represents the British and Australian POW rescued at sea from a sunk enemy ship...

Dressed for the part ...

Getting in .I'm 5"6 ,so that will give you an idea of the size ....

Engine controls......

Forward.....

Toward the "war room".....

Diving controls....

Toward the torpedo room......

Shut down valve.....

Torpedo room...

I'm out.....

Yesterday i took a little trip to pier45,here in SF. The following pictures are dedicated to the brave men of the United States Navy submarine force in World War II.

The heroic efforts of American submarines during the Pacific war is frequently overlooked and sadly understated. Military historians fully agree that the submarine campaign,ultimately helped to bring about a much swifter, and victorious conclusion to the war with Japan.

World War II submarines typically carried a crew of 70 men and 10 officers. The submarine service was a small, well trained, elite group. They represented less than two percent of all U.S. Navy personnel, and yet they were responsible for fifty-five percent of all Japanese tonnage sunk, including one third of their warships. This was not without cost, for the submarine force recorded the highest percentage of men lost in the U.S. military, 24%: more than 3500 men in 52 submarines did not return. They are said to be on eternal patrol. To this day all submariners are volunteers.USS Pampanito and her crew were successful during her 6 war patrols in the Pacific.

KNICK-KNACKS ....VINTAGE USN MATCHBOOK COVERS

Some newly found matchbook covers .These ww2 covers,are just a small selection of a larger US NAVY related collection i've bought this Sunday ....

TALKING ABOUT FRENCH COOL ......

This is the coolest"free French" picture i've ever seen .it was taken around 1944 in the south of France in Cassis .the guy is a totally legit resistance fighter .look at the GI's face on the left ......

THE US NAVY SWEATERS

Finger printing 1918 ....note the turtleneck line with its chevron weave pattern .....

Around 1941 studio portrait,showcasing the sweater worn with regulation winter work blues.....

Around 1930'S CPO turtleneck with heavier blue wool .....enlisted man's sweater up to ww2 bare the same details :chevron like weave at the shoulders and at the base of the cuffs ......

From top to bottom:1930's cpo,ww2 enlisted man,post war around 1948 enlisted man.....
Detail from top to bottom: ww2 cuff is knitted in one piece ,the 1948 cuff is sewn on ....

1930'S neck tag....

WW2 tag....

POST war tag with it's contract #......

Nothing really surfaces while searching for info about the US NAVY's wool sweater. the "blue jacket" , Navy's bible, is kinda vague about the use and regulation of this tight fitting piece of uniform .Mostly seen underneath the blue jumper or the peacoat,it was also worn by landing parties in combination with denims and watch cap,for night time commando style ops.... pre and ww2 sweaters were made of dark blue wool, the black sweater appeared later during the 50's....

PERFECT TIME FOR AN A-2...THE PERRY CONTRACT

The A-2 is probably the more versatile jacket in existence and beside it's iconic status,it's probably why it was so widely copied .Today,as it's nice and worm enough here in good ol' SF, i've decided to wear one of my favorite A-2 jacket [so far] from Perry sportswear .I'm not going to tell you about the A-2's history, as it can be found allover the net but instead showcase some of this jacket's unique features .....

This A-2 is an original WW2 Perry Sportswear .It has a contract # without the company's name,but was easily identifiable [look at the pictures]. Perry's earlier smaller contract was mostly made using goatskin,but some were evidently done in horsehide too. Perry's design,were mostly produced in russet horsehide and seal brown model are scarce.

Perry's jacket is a very athletic and sharp one,as it's roomier at the shoulders and sleeve tops,so it fits more like a modern jacket should ...no discomfort here or need to get a bigger size.

some of Perry's unique and evident details are the stitching . The pocket's flap top stitching has a wide gap from the edge, and that stitching only goes through two layers of leather (not the folded leather edge as most other makers), and the top stitching around the zipper and collar is quite close to the edge. No triangle stitching was done at the base of the zipper. Some Perry jackets have the leather of the wind flap built in three sections, rather than just one as seen one this example. Note the pocket body stitching at the top, which is a square, rather than the more common triangle.no Perry has ever had a pocket tag .they also all have a collar stand which was avoided by most of the other manufacturer ,as difficult and time consuming to manufacture.another tell all detail is the Conmar zipper as it was the one used for almost all their production [some examples with Crown exist ]