Original German WWII French-Made Kriegsmarine Coastal Artillery Petty Officer Oberbootsmannmaat Navy Jumper & Trousers – 1941 Dated Original Items

Original Item. Only One Available. This is a tremendous & near mint French-Made Kriegsmarine Navy Jumper & Trousers to a petty officer in the Coastal Artillery, as indicated by the rates on the left sleeve. The Kriegsmarine was the navy of NSDAP Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war Reichsmarine (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches, along with the Heer and the Luftwaffe, of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces from 1935 to 1945.

After the German Invasion of France in 1940, Germany began manufacturing uniforms & other gear in France, primarily Paris. This particular example bears a Parisian maker’s stamp that also dates it 1941.

This beautiful Kriegsmarine jumper belonged to an Oberbootsmannmaat, or “Chief Boatswain’s Mate” which is the direct translation. His “rate” was the Naval Coastal Artillery (Marineartillerie) as indicated by the winged artillery shell patch on his left sleeve above his rank. Both patches are of wool construction and appear to have been hand stitched on. There is very little mothing present on the insignia. On the right breast of the jumper the Kriegs eagle can be found. The insignia shows no sign of being added later and is all of the period. There is stamping on the bottom of the uniform, 56 108 80 and a circular stamp that identifies where the jumper was manufactured, Paris, France, and a date of 1941. The ropes around the neck are perfect and nearly without flaw.

The trousers are in similar phenomenal condition with all its buttons retained and very little damage if any across the pair. The back buckle has retained its beautiful bluing. 

This is a phenomenal uniform set that doesn’t often come up together like this.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 12″
Shoulder to sleeve: 22”
Shoulder to shoulder: 24.5”
Chest width: 24″
Waist width: 24″
Hip width: 23″
Front length: 31″

Pants:
Waist: 15″
Inseam: 29″

More on the Kriegsmarine
In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine grew rapidly during German naval rearmament in the 1930s. The 1919 treaty had limited the size of the German navy and prohibited the building of submarines

Kriegsmarine ships were deployed to the waters around Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) under the guise of enforcing non-intervention, but in reality supported the Nationalists against the Spanish Republicans.

In January 1939, Plan Z, a massive ship-building program, was ordered, calling for surface naval parity with the British Royal Navy by 1944. When World War II broke out in September 1939, Plan Z was shelved in favour of a crash building program for submarines (U-boats) instead of capital surface warships, and land and air forces were given priority of strategic resources.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine (as for all branches of armed forces during the period of absolute NSDAP power) was AH, who exercised his authority through the Oberkommando der Marine (“High Command of the Navy”).

The Kriegsmarine’s most significant ships were the U-boats, most of which were constructed after Plan Z was abandoned at the beginning of World War II. Wolfpacks were rapidly assembled groups of submarines which attacked British convoys during the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic but this tactic was largely abandoned by May 1943 when U-boat losses mounted. Along with the U-boats, surface commerce raiders (including auxiliary cruisers) were used to disrupt Allied shipping in the early years of the war, the most famous of these being the heavy cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Scheer and the battleship Bismarck. However, the adoption of convoy escorts, especially in the Atlantic, greatly reduced the effectiveness of surface commerce raiders against convoys.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Kriegsmarine’s remaining ships were divided up among the Allied powers and were used for various purposes including minesweeping. Some were loaded with superfluous chemical weapons and scuttled.