1930's "SAND PEBBLES" US NAVY OFFICERS UNIFORM - Tailored in China

[KASTAUFFER]

I cry when I look at this one because no matter how many times i look through every nook and cranny of this uniform, I cant find a name written anywhere in it.

 

This is a very interesting uniform, down to the buttons.

 

It was tailored for a US Navy Ensign sometime in the 1930's or possibly even the late 1920's.

 

It was made by "T. W. Tom and Co" who was a Naval Tailor in Shanghai. What is fascinating are the buttons. They are Pre-1900 manufactured buttons by Jos H Starkey in London who is known to have made USN buttons as far back as the Civil War.

 

The fact it still has "Ensign" rank on it is unusual too, because this was during the depression and a lot of Naval officers used the same uniform jacket for years and updated the rank as they were promoted. Not a lot of 1930's US Naval Officers service uniforms have survived. You see many more from WWI. ( Lots of frock coats and mess dress uniforms have survived).

 

The Yangtze ribbon is sewn on.

 

I wish this uniform could talk!!

 

 

[KASTAUFFER]

 

[KASTAUFFER]

 

 

[Bluehawk]

That is quite something there... remarkable, and subtle.

 

"Sand Pebbles" is what caught my eye at first - a favorite film of mine for many years.

[Dirk]

From an Shanghai ad from the early 1920's

[USMCR79]

Perhaps he died while on active duty in the early 1930’s - You could check the Navy Registers

 

Bill

[trenchbuff]

Must have belonged to ENS Bordelles. OK, someone had to say it. Very nice jacket even without a name to research.

[patches]

Must have belonged to ENS Bordelles. OK, someone had to say it. Very nice jacket even without a name to research.

:lol:

[patches]

A fantastic piece Kast, love it.

[Kurt Barickman]

Bordelles, ok all you need is his .45? Hah!

 

Kurt

 

Great item and time period in USMC/USN history!

[oakleaf777]

Wow, how often do we see an actual piece from the "Sand Pebbles" era? What a treasure. The stories it could tell. Probably was worn on liberty in more refined company, and in some classier joints than The Green Front!

[KASTAUFFER]

From an Shanghai ad from the early 1920's

Thanks Dirk!

[Dirk]

A few years ago I picked up this business card ….wondering if it is the predecessor of T.W.’s firm or a different one using the name Tom….

[YNCM Doug]

A nice piece of history. Thank you for sharing. 

[sigsaye]

On 10/21/2017 at 8:41 PM, USMCR79 said:

Perhaps he died while on active duty in the early 1930’s - You could check the Navy Registers

 

Bill

Didn’t necessarily die, could have just gotten sick or injured and been sent back to the states. Or, depending on the time, he could have just been offered a deprecation and took it. Advancement was not quick or guaranteed. Lots of officers resigned their commissions during the Depression to Pursue civilian careers. The Navy was very liberal with “Reducing Payroll” at that time. 

 

On 10/21/2017 at 8:41 PM, USMCR79 said:

Perhaps he died while on active duty in the early 1930’s - You could check the Navy Registers

 

Bill

 

[aerialbridge]

In 1926-27, the historical period of the "Northern Expedition" that is the setting for the book and movie, there were four gunboats proper, assigned to the Yangtze Patrol.  They were the old Spanish gunboats, Elcano and Villalobos, 600 and 200 tons, respectively, prizes ships from Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay, and the two sister ship shallow draft (2.5 ") river gunboats Palos and Monocacy. They were built at Mare Island  from English gunboat designs, then disassembled, and their parts labeled, crated and shipped to Shanghai, where they were reassembled and placed in commission in early summer 1914.  Palos and Monocacy were 160 feet long, with one three-inch gun; and twin screw reciprocating engines that could do thirteen and one-quarter knots. One notable feature of their construction is that each boat was equipped with three rudders for tight turns on the narrow, serpentine and often treacherous Yangtze.  With their extremely shallow drafts, Palos and Monocacy could navigate on shallow reaches of the Upper Yangtze that none of the other gunboats or repurposed minesweepers could reach. Also assigned to the Patrol were the converted WWI era Lapwing-class mine sweepers, Penguin and Pigeon, built for removing the North Sea Mine Barrage and the converted yacht Isabel, flagship of ComYangPat, a two-star billet.

 

As to the real life Ensign Bordelles, Executive Officer of the San Pablo.  The four actual gunboats were commanded by LCDRs (not a lieutenant) and their XOs were lieutenants.  In fact, I believe the Navy Directory for January 1927 only lists a single ensign among the four YangPat gunboats.  But, the odds of that being his uniform jacket are pretty slim, as the Yangtze Service medal was issued to many ensigns on many different ships into the early 1930s.  At the turn of the last century, the Navy gunboats in the Philippines typically had an ensign as the XO, but not China gunboats in the 1920s.    McKenna's statement that he based San Pablo on Villalobos is universally mis-assumed to be based on appearance, of which there is little similarity.  McKenna based it on historical fact,  since Villalobos had winter quarters at Changsha (San Pablos's station) and similarly was unable to move until the spring thaw.  During the summer months she typically visited other Yangtze ports.   Notably,  it was another Yangztze Patrol gunboat, not Villalobos,  that was at Changsha when the shinola hit the fan in the book and movie, again, loosely based on historical facts.