BACKGROUND: The U-Boat War Badge was instituted by Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine und Großadmiral, (Commander in Chief of the Navy and Grand Admiral), Erich Raeder on October 13^TH 1939 for award to all ranks of U-Boat personnel who had served on at least two sorties against the enemy or were wounded in action. The badge was to be worn on the lower left breast of most uniforms. With the proper documentation, recipients of most Third Reich awards, including the U-Boat War Badge were permitted to privately purchase a jeweler’s copy of the award, at their own expense, if so desired. Of Note: The LDO, Leistungsgemeinschaft der Deutschen Ordenshersteller, (Administration of German Medal Manufacturers), began regulating the manufacture of German awards in March 1941 as a quality control agent for awards that were intended for retail sale and manufacturers were to use an assigned LDO, "L", code on their products destined for retail sales. Awards that were to be bestowed by the government were also issued an official numerical government contract code known as a, Lieferantnummer, (Contractors Number), that was issued by the Präsidialkanzlei des Führers, (Presidential Council of the Führers), for formally approved manufacturers. The manufacturing firms that were licenced by both the Präsidialkanzlei des Führers and the LDO and would have used the same dies to stamp both the official issue and retail sales types of awards making them virtually indistinguishable from one another except for the markings.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Die struck, solid backed, alloy construction badge with a gilt wash is in the form of a horizontally oval, laurel leaf wreath with a national eagle with out-stretched wings, clutching a canted swastika in its talons, superimposed to the top center, encompassing a cut-out, profile view of a submarine. The badge features veins to the laurel leaves, cut-out detailing to the submarines conning tower, flag, and the forward deck gun. Only hints of the original gilt wash remain and the badge has mostly reverted to the flat matte grey of the base alloy. The solid reverse has a solid soldered hinge on a rectangular base plate, a broad, tapering vertical pin and a heavy soldered catch on a circular base plate all intact. The reverse is well marked with the embossed manufacturer’s LDO numerical code, "L/56", indicating manufacture by Funcke & Brüninghaus of Lüdenscheid.

GRADE ***                             PRICE $476.00