Jump to content

US Navy "patch jacket" Vietnam era blue jacket


Bob Hudson
 Share

Recommended Posts

Picked this up today. It has ratty cuffs and collar but an interesting array of patches including one personalized for the sailor's duties, apparently, in the ship's laundry.

 

1.jpg

 

I found this on ancestry.com

 

2.jpg

 

3.jpg

 

4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

vintageproductions

That's great.

I will be down later with a razor blade, and we can clean it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RustyCanteen

Beautiful working utility jacket! The patches are great!!

 

And a nice large size too.

 

Should be 1966 contract.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patchcollector

Very cool!I'm a fan of the Comm ships,and this one was very active in the Space program.Here is some info I found.She just missed WW2,and was originally commissioned as a small Carrier,the USS Saipan.

 

 

 

USS Arlington (AGMR-2), 1966-1976.
Previously USS Saipan (CVL-48)

USS Arlington, a 14,500-ton major communications relay ship, was originally commissioned in July 1946 as the small aircraft carrier Saipan (CVL-48). In April 1965, while in the midst of a lengthy conversion at Mobile, Alabama, the ship was renamed Arlington. Recommissioned in August 1966, she continued fitting out until early the next year, when she began operations with a shakedown cruise to the Caribbean. During February and March 1967, Arlington participated in exercises off northern Europe.

In July 1967, Arlington steamed to the Pacific via the Panama Canal and continued on to Vietnam. She stayed in the Far East area from August 1967 until late 1968, providing communications support during the Southeast Asian conflict and visiting ports from Japan to Australia. In December 1968, May 1969 and July 1969, Arlington worked out of Pearl Harbor, assisting in the Apollo 8, 10 and 11 space flight recovery efforts. She returned to Asian waters for further Vietnam War operations in January-April and June-July 1969, and also helped with communications during a June 1969 conference between U.S. President Nixon and Republic of Vietnam President Thieu. USS Arlington arrived in California in August 1969. Decommissioned in January 1970, she was retained in the Pacific Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in August 1975. Arlington was sold for scrapping in June 1976.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THOSE JACKETS LOOKED LIKE! Mine had similar patches, but only Kitty Hawk and Bradley. Ratty with a broken zipper. Mine was a 46. They were great jackets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

VFP patch was an RF-8 photo recon Crusader unit

 

VFP 63's Lieutenant Charles F. Klusmann, became the first naval aviator shot down by Communist fire in Southeast Asia.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RustyCanteen

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THOSE JACKETS LOOKED LIKE! Mine had similar patches, but only Kitty Hawk and Bradley. Ratty with a broken zipper. Mine was a 46. They were great jackets

 

And a lot better looking than the newer utility jacket that replaced them.

 

RC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

firefighter

What's the deal on this personal patch for the jacket's owner? Were these common?

 

post-2-0-98288000-1375236087.jpg

Great looking jacket.I was wondering the same thing.Is that the sailors name or a Navy acronym?Beautiful Japanese made patches.The Apollo 11 one is unusual.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's the deal on this personal patch for the jacket's owner? Were these common?

 

post-2-0-98288000-1375236087.jpg

Yes it was. They would do it at the shop you bought the patch at. The shops where you bought these patches had many designs made up and you would dig through them looking for what you liked. Or, like tattoo parlors, you could take them a design or just tell them what you want and the would make it up for you, thus, there were a LOT of "ONE OF" or "Limited Issue" patches. I had patches made up for my guys in Subic for one ship, there were 11 made. I have since lost mine some where, so if you guys ever run into a patch that looks like an Amphibious Boat Coxswain design but with crossed signal flags instead of anchors and USS St. Louis, LKA-116 on it, it's mine! :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great looking jacket.I was wondering the same thing.Is that the sailors name or a Navy acronym?Beautiful Japanese made patches.The Apollo 11 one is unusual.

 

That's his first name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bob I think the personal patches are fantastic that the guys had made up.When I had my shop a guy walked in with some 25th Division insignia.One of the patches said 25th Division SNIPPER.I said to the guy what a shame they misspelled SNIPER his answer was no I had it made that way I was the Company Barber.Its a great looking jacket and the patches are fantastic.Scotty

Link to comment
Share on other sites

firefighter

Bob I think the personal patches are fantastic that the guys had made up.When I had my shop a guy walked in with some 25th Division insignia.One of the patches said 25th Division SNIPPER.I said to the guy what a shame they misspelled SNIPER his answer was no I had it made that way I was the Company Barber.Its a great looking jacket and the patches are fantastic.Scotty

 

 

Cool story.I would have thought misspelled 'sniper' too.Just goes to show not everything is what it appears or is a mistake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...