subsystem4 Posted March 15, 2014 Share #1 Posted March 15, 2014 I don't usually buy post WWII jumper but this one was right up my alley. The USS Okanogan was an APA that served from 1944 to 1968. The jumper looks like middle 50s from the large one piece tag under the collar. It has an early, more medium blue than dark blue/black, ships tab, an assault boat coxswain distinguishing mark with a E above it on the right sleeve and a Boatswain's mate striker and seaman 1st class stripes on the left sleeve. It is named so I am going to see if I can find any info online. I am guessing the guy was a landing craft coxswain or crew member sometime between Korea and Vietnam. -Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsystem4 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share #2 Posted March 15, 2014 closer look at insignia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted March 15, 2014 Share #3 Posted March 15, 2014 Very Nice I would have picked this up as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted March 15, 2014 Share #4 Posted March 15, 2014 After 1949, there were no more Seaman First Class. He would have been simply Seaman. His rate would have been officially written as BMSN for Boatswains Mate Seaman. He may also be listed as SN. Definitely used between '58 when the UIMs were adopted, and 1968 when the ship was decommissioned. Love the fully patched jumpers. The Assault Boat Coxswain patch was coveted and hard to get, lots of hours in a boat under all sorts of conditions. Even after these were officially dropped by the Navy, many Cox'ns continued to wear them, and Gator Bo's'uns continued to award them, getting the patches made up in local shops. I have two that are regulation issue, post '75 when they had been dropped. I crewed assault boats for a couple of years, and it is anything but an easy job. A crew can easily spend 20+ hours a day in their boat for days on end, running to and from the beach, handle cargo, plus do the maintenance on it and clean it. Oh yeah, and stand their regular shipboard watches too. It's a young mans job for sure. Great jumper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsystem4 Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted March 15, 2014 After 1949, there were no more Seaman First Class. He would have been simply Seaman. His rate would have been officially written as BMSN for Boatswains Mate Seaman. He may also be listed as SN. Definitely used between '58 when the UIMs were adopted, and 1968 when the ship was decommissioned. Love the fully patched jumpers. The Assault Boat Coxswain patch was coveted and hard to get, lots of hours in a boat under all sorts of conditions. Even after these were officially dropped by the Navy, many Cox'ns continued to wear them, and Gator Bo's'uns continued to award them, getting the patches made up in local shops. I have two that are regulation issue, post '75 when they had been dropped. I crewed assault boats for a couple of years, and it is anything but an easy job. A crew can easily spend 20+ hours a day in their boat for days on end, running to and from the beach, handle cargo, plus do the maintenance on it and clean it. Oh yeah, and stand their regular shipboard watches too. It's a young mans job for sure. Great jumper! Thanks for the info! I am a not as knowledgeable about the post WWII rating structure as i probably should be. I love the Gator navy stuff. -Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SergeantMajorGray Posted March 15, 2014 Share #6 Posted March 15, 2014 Nice jumper I like post war almost as much as WW2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bone Posted March 30, 2015 Share #7 Posted March 30, 2015 Any idea what one of these Coxswain's patches in gold thread would be? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted March 30, 2015 Share #8 Posted March 30, 2015 Never seen one can you post photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted March 30, 2015 Share #9 Posted March 30, 2015 Curious, I'm noting that one Hashmark, so while it was no doubt kinda common during WWII, in the 50s-60s would it be common for an EM of this junior rank to be in four or more years without making PO 3rd Class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted March 30, 2015 Share #10 Posted March 30, 2015 Curious, I'm noting that one Hashmark, so while it was no doubt kinda common during WWII, in the 50s-60s would it be common for an EM of this junior rank to be in four or more years without making PO 3rd Class? . Oh yes, actually pretty common. While it COULD be the result of disciplinary action, many Sailors just did not advance that quickly. The Navy did not have an "Up or out" policy at that time. Some rates had slow advanvment and some guys chose not to advance. I was on a frigate in 1975. We had a BMSN. Who had been on that ship almost 12 years. He had never been busted and was an outstanding Sailor. He knew everything there was to know about that ship. He simply had no desire to advance beyond "Leading Seaman". The Navy was happy to leave him there. They got a highly skilled Sailor for E-3 pay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted March 30, 2015 Share #11 Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Minton Posted April 20, 2015 Share #12 Posted April 20, 2015 Any idea what one of these Coxswain's patches in gold thread would be? Thanks I have one as well. It is yellow thread, rather than gold bullion or wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldBM2 Posted July 27, 2019 Share #13 Posted July 27, 2019 The gold coxswain patch was given the the best amphibious ship in the fleet for 5 years in a row who had the best overall boat group during amphibious operations. I was in the USS Washburn AKA108 LCM6 boat group in 1968 and we got to wear the Gold Coxswain patch on our right sleeve dress uniform. Also the ship displayed it on the outside of the bridge for everyone to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted July 28, 2019 Share #14 Posted July 28, 2019 The gold coxswain patch was given the the best amphibious ship in the fleet for 5 years in a row who had the best overall boat group during amphibious operations. I was in the USS Washburn AKA108 LCM6 boat group in 1968 and we got to wear the Gold Coxswain patch on our right sleeve dress uniform. Also the ship displayed it on the outside of the bridge for everyone to see.. Thats Outstanding! I never knew that! I didnt get to my first Gator until 1980. By then, all those cool patches had been abolished. I remember painting the Assault Boat award on the bridge wing, but never saw the patch. Im thinking it was much like other Unofficial patches we wore, like the Comm guys Green C. Never Official, Worn with Pride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastersMate Posted July 29, 2019 Share #15 Posted July 29, 2019 In the FWIW department concerning distinguishing marks. In the very early 1970s an article in All Hands magazine described the new USN coat and tie uniform that was being introduced for everyone in the Navy. One tidbit noted that the sewn on distinguishing marks were not considered appropriate for display on the coat and tie style uniform and they were going to be eliminated. Kind of follows along with the time line creation of a lot of the "pin on" qualification devices. If you want to research out the dates I'd bet the creation of the "E" ribbon, for example, is close to the adoption date of the new USN uniform. The enlisted PQS for the SWE insignia covered many of the deck type distinguishing marks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted July 29, 2019 Share #16 Posted July 29, 2019 In the FWIW department concerning distinguishing marks. In the very early 1970s an article in All Hands magazine described the new USN coat and tie uniform that was being introduced for everyone in the Navy. One tidbit noted that the sewn on distinguishing marks were not considered appropriate for display on the coat and tie style uniform and they were going to be eliminated. Kind of follows along with the time line creation of a lot of the "pin on" qualification devices. If you want to research out the dates I'd bet the creation of the "E" ribbon, for example, is close to the adoption date of the new USN uniform. The enlisted PQS for the SWE insignia covered many of the deck type distinguishing marks. . You are exactly correct. I was actually a bit miffed by it too. I earned an E, had it sewn on under my UIM, had my ASE3 crow, in the process of converting to SM, looking forward to earning the Expert Lookout quail patch. Then, they changed our uniforms and got rid of all the cool stuff. Then started creating new ribbons and pin on badges. Never liked all that pin on junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted July 29, 2019 Share #17 Posted July 29, 2019 The 1973 uniform as cited - the detested "Doorman" or "Ice Cream Vendor" uniform jacket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted July 29, 2019 Share #18 Posted July 29, 2019 The 1973 uniform as cited - the detested "Doorman" or "Ice Cream Vendor" uniform jacket. I held out until the last minute buying this thing, many, mid 1975. Hated it. It always looked like trash after being stuffed in a shipboard locker. Anyway, when we went back to the jumper uniforms, I hung onto this. When I made Chief, I converted it all over, so it wasnt a total waste. Just wish, that when they went back to the jumpers, they had revived the qual patches too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted July 29, 2019 Share #19 Posted July 29, 2019 When you google this jacket on the net, this photo of a squid comes up........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Minton Posted July 29, 2019 Share #20 Posted July 29, 2019 The gold coxswain patch was given the the best amphibious ship in the fleet for 5 years in a row who had the best overall boat group during amphibious operations. I was in the USS Washburn AKA108 LCM6 boat group in 1968 and we got to wear the Gold Coxswain patch on our right sleeve dress uniform. Also the ship displayed it on the outside of the bridge for everyone to see. Thanks for the great answer. I was reading this thread with great interest, and half way through thought I was sure I had one of the gold patches as well. Then saw my four year old post ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted July 29, 2019 Share #21 Posted July 29, 2019 When you google this jacket on the net, this photo of a squid comes up........ . BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! My sister always says I look like a NAZI in that photo ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRIS FORD Posted July 29, 2019 Share #22 Posted July 29, 2019 That's a sad HT LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRIS FORD Posted July 29, 2019 Share #23 Posted July 29, 2019 . BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! My sister always says I look like a NAZI in that photo ? Probably more-so in the Johnny Cashes! Love this pic! Back when it was a COMPANY COMMANDER, and it was Aye Aye Sir, first and last thing out of your !@#$%^ pipe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigsaye Posted July 29, 2019 Share #24 Posted July 29, 2019 That's a sad HT LOL . What about that poor PN3! 16+ years! Nothing but a National Defence and a shooting ribbon! Must have been a Reserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted July 29, 2019 Share #25 Posted July 29, 2019 . What about that poor PN3! 16+ years! Nothing but a National Defence and a shooting ribbon! Must have been a Reserve. That's one more than many sailors received in the 1970's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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