BACKGROUND: Protective foul weather clothing and headgear were components of a ships on-board clothing stores and were issued to watch and deck personnel on an "as need" basis during inclement weather. When not in use the foul weather clothing and headgear were returned to storage for future usage. Generally the foul weather clothing and headgear items were constructed in waterproof rubberized canvas or oilcloth in assorted colors although leather garments were also utilized. The Kriegsmarine protective foul weather cap followed the basic design as the "Sou’wester" cap used by civilian fishermen and merchant marine personnel through-out the world.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Black rubberized canvas construction Southwester style protective foul weather cap features a two piece, dual-ply, horizontal brim which is considerably longer in the back, and has dual parallel rows of reinforcement stitching near the outer edge. The crown portion of the cap is constructed of four evenly sized, single-ply, rubberized canvas panels with machine stitched seams. The cap has an unlined interior with the natural off-white canvas visible to the crown section. The interior of the cap has dual, khaki cotton, tie, chinstraps with an HBT, (Herring Bone Twill), weave, machine stitched into the side seams where the brim affixes to the crown panels. The interior of the cap is well marked with a black inkstamped waffen-amt and the manufacturers name, location and date, "Willy Sprengpfeil Mützenfabrik Hamburg 19 1940", the interior also has a blue inkstamped size marking, "58".