U.S Coast & Geodetic Survey jumper

[subsystem4]

USCGS Jumper. I am guessing it dates from the early 1950s from the the two piece Naval Clothing Depot tag. The insignia on the lower right sleeve is for a civilian volunteer. I don't know too much about the USCGS stuff other than what their general mission was and what insignia they used.

-Jay

 

[subsystem4]

Tag and Patch.

[sigsaye]

WOW, just wow. I never knew they wore uniforms too. Just as an aside, there was a thread on here once about finding a pair of giane (size 40-50 something) Navy trousers and a string of beating on fat a$$ Sailors. Remember, not only did the USN wear them, so DID USCG, USMS, USC&GS and they were also supplied to some forign Navies. Just saying.

[QED4]

First one of these I have seen. What is on the collar where the star is on a Navy jumper? The USMS uses their insignia, is there a USC&GS there or do they just have the Navy star?

[craig_pickrall]

WOW, just wow. I never knew they wore uniforms too. Just as an aside, there was a thread on here once about finding a pair of giane (size 40-50 something) Navy trousers and a string of beating on fat a$$ Sailors. Remember, not only did the USN wear them, so DID USCG, USMS, USC&GS and they were also supplied to some forign Navies. Just saying.

Don't worry about that to much. I have a pair of WW2 Mountain Troop trousers that are 40 waist by 31 inseam. I can't imagine that poor guy climbing mountains or even walking the trails and carrying all that heavy gear.

[Justin B.]

Very cool jumper. From the specialty mark and the Spanish name, I would say there is a good chance this belonged to a Filipino steward, common in the USCGS just like in the USN. Thanks for the post!

 

Justin B.

[RustyCanteen]

USCGS Jumper. I am guessing it dates from the early 1950s from the the two piece Naval Clothing Depot tag.

 

 

Yes, the single tag gave way to the double tag in the early 1950s before they changed to a revised (and larger) one piece tag.

 

Nice find.

RC

[subsystem4]

First one of these I have seen. What is on the collar where the star is on a Navy jumper? The USMS uses their insignia, is there a USC&GS there or do they just have the Navy star?

Its a first for me too. This is just a standard navy jumper with stars in the corners of the collar.

-Jay

[tafh63]

While crew members aboard Coast and Geodetic Survey ships wore naval uniforms, they were essentially civilian civil servants. Both Army and Navy officers served with the Service until the Civil War. The Navy Department continued to assign officers to the USCGS until the Spanish-American War. After cessation of hostilities Navy officers were briefly assigned to ships of the USCGS until their permanent removal around 1900 or so.

 

When the U.S. entered WWI there was concern that ships officers might be tried as spies if captured by enemy vessels. Therefore USCGS ships officers were granted commissioned status with assimilated rank to Navy officers, much like the Coast Guard. Around 1921 or so commissioned USCGS officers were granted equal status with army and navy officers. It should be noted that within the USCGS (and still to this day in NOAA) there were two types of officers: Commissioned Corps and civil servants serving as watch officers, deck officers and mates. Commissioned officers wore the "triangle symbol"-it has a more official name that I can't recall off-hand above rank insignia, while other "civil officers" wore variations of grade identification.

 

Much like vessels belonging to merchant shipping companies and lines, ship organization onboard USCGS (later ESSA and NOAA) vessels mirrored to some extent routine and customs found on board naval vessels. Crew positions were given titles similar to naval rates. And like USCGS civil officers, crew members wore navy-type uniforms. It should be noted that while Commerce Department regulations required wearing of uniforms by ship's company aboard ship and in foreign ports, crews were allowed to wear civilian clothing while on liberty of leave in the US. This practice of imitating the Navy and treating crews as "quasi-sailors" continued into the 1960s.

 

Sometime in the 1960s a class action grievance was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB). The Board's ruling was monumental and precedent setting. For one, the Board ruled that all noncommissioned members of the USCGS were, and always had been, civilian employees of the Commerce Department, including ship's officers and such who were not members of the Commissioned Corps. Even during the World Wars when USCGS vessels were seconded to the Navy, the civilian crews were classified as "civilian belligerents" vice enlisted members of the Service. The ruling also directed the USCGS to stop requiring crews (excluding Commissioned Corps personnel) to wear navy-style uniforms and prohibited imposing naval customs on the crews such as grooming standards, saluting, standing in formations, etc.

 

After this ruling by the NRLB voluntary wearing of uniforms by ships' company (excluding Commissioned Corps officers) dropped precipitously. A few did continue wearing uniforms into the late 1970s. And while today many NOAA vessel positions are classified using titles similar to naval rates, corresponding insignia has gone the way of the dinosaur.