David Minton Posted February 6, 2015 Share #1 Posted February 6, 2015 I have about two dozen WAVES rates, as well as a few hundred men's rates. I picked up three WAVES rates the other day, including the Radioman (woman?) and Radarman (radar woman?) below. For scale, I have also included a full size Radarman. All of the WAVES rates I have owned are similar in construction to the one on the left, particularly having embroidered chevrons, with a silk or gaberdine base material. The WAVES Radarman (center) is a scaled down version of the one on the right, including applied chevrons, felt base material, and embroidered date (looks to me to be 1943) common on many WWII era rates, though not this particular one full size example. My question is how common was this construction? Since WAVES rates don't seem to be widely collected, I figure it doesn't have much value, but at $2, I couldn't pass it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Minton Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share #2 Posted February 6, 2015 Reverse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpcsdan Posted February 26, 2015 Share #3 Posted February 26, 2015 David, First applied chevron W.A.V.E.S. rating badge I've run across and a dated one at that. All I've collected/seen have been embroidered chevrons. -dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topdcnut Posted February 27, 2015 Share #4 Posted February 27, 2015 The only other applied chevron female rating badge I have seen can be seen in a post called Navy rating badges signed and dated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topdcnut Posted February 27, 2015 Share #5 Posted February 27, 2015 Found the pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Minton Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share #6 Posted February 27, 2015 Thank you for posting topdcnut. Its interesting to see your piece, while having applied chevrons, is very different. That one is gaberdine vs. mine which is wool. The sticking pattern on the chevrons looks also to be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topdcnut Posted February 28, 2015 Share #7 Posted February 28, 2015 Front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastersMate Posted September 4, 2017 Share #8 Posted September 4, 2017 The WAVES radar rating badge might just be a Coast Guard SPAR rating badge from WW2. The CG had a rating of Radarman (LORAN) that used the standard RdMn specialty mark. The rating was a kind of low key specialty. The SPARs in that rating operated the stateside Loran navigation system. There is a photo somewhere on the CG Historans web sit showing the crew from the Chatham, Mass Loran Station.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MastersMate Posted September 4, 2017 Share #9 Posted September 4, 2017 Checked WW2 issues of All Hands magazine, the USN did not have a WAVES radarman rating.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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