Study: USN WWII Gray Uniforms 1943-1949

[BigBrother]

1 minute ago, 29navy said:

Though you'd be interested in a uniform listing with prices from a tailor in Chicago. The guy was going through the Midshipman school in Abbot Hall Northwestern University in 1944. What I find interesting is that he only lists the white shirt, not the gray. The tailor was J. B. Simpson

Very interesting. I believe I've seen some pictures on here with the white shirt and was mildly curious about that. I wonder if with white shirt it was deemed a bit closer to Class A for a touch more formality. (The fact he has no cotton gray suits on here, just tropical wool and gabardine, lends credence to that.)  

[DD937]

Some of the shirts in this thread are considerably lighter grey but not white and I think I own one. I will have to dig it up.

[BigBrother]

11 hours ago, 29navy said:

As you've said and has been mentioned, since officers bought their uniforms, the number of different labels on them are almost endless.  Most bought them at teh uniform places near the Midshipman schools and universities with Naval ROTCs.  And all of the uniform tailors at every port.  

 

I have not seen any wool shirts.  Seen the variety material of trousers and jackets as you have mentioned. 

 

Here's a couple of shirts I have.

 

This is the interesting one, Navy Contract. insignia holes in collars, Name stenciled on the inside left pocket with pencil slots. and a cutter tag on the right sleeve.

 

This one, obviously worn. Collar holes, replaced and missing buttons, still folded from the cleaners. Lighter weight than the previous shirt.

 

 

This one, never bought.  Still folded/wrapped from the store.

@29navy Forgot to mention in my numbered points- if you're looking to sell any, please PM me :).

 

[29navy]

Here is what is called for for shirts in the 1947 regs.  Don't know if this is past the time you are looking for.

 

2-23. Shirts:
(a) Blue chambray shirts (optional) shall be made of fast-dyed blue cotton chambray. They
shall have a convertible collar, long sleeves, and one patch pocket on each forepart.

 

(b) Blue-flannel shirts shall be made of dark blue flannel. They shall be of conventional
design with collar attached. Buttons shall be 24-line black anchor type.

 

(c) Gray shirts shall be made of fast-dyed gray cotton material. They shall be of conventional
design with collar attached.

 

(d) Khaki shirts shall be of conventional design with collar attached. They shall be made
of fast-dyed khaki cotton material for wear with the khaki working uniform. They shall
be made of fast-dyed khaki cotton or flannel material for wear with the aviation winter
working uniform.

 

(e) Tropical shirts (optional) shall be made of white or khaki cotton or linen with an open
collar forming a "V" neck.

 

(f) White shirts shall be of plain cotton or linen only. Collar-attached type is optional,
but collars shall be of the semi-stiff variety.

[29navy]

Here is what the 1941 regs say about the khaki shirt to be worn with the Aviation Winter Working Uniform

 

9-39. Shirt-Winter and Summer Working Uniform.-This garment shall be khaki, cotton or worsted, with attached collar.

[sigsaye]

16 hours ago, BigBrother said:

Very interesting. I believe I've seen some pictures on here with the white shirt and was mildly curious about that. I wonder if with white shirt it was deemed a bit closer to Class A for a touch more formality. (The fact he has no cotton gray suits on here, just tropical wool and gabardine, lends credence to that.)  

The uniform was never meant to be a dress uniform. If they’re wearing a white shirt, it’s because they didn’t have a gray one. Just like you see the coats with khaki CPO rating badges

[sigsaye]

17 hours ago, BigBrother said:

Very interesting. I believe I've seen some pictures on here with the white shirt and was mildly curious about that. I wonder if with white shirt it was deemed a bit closer to Class A for a touch more formality. (The fact he has no cotton gray suits on here, just tropical wool and gabardine, lends credence to that.)  

Something else to consider. The USN, had 2, Dress Uniforms, (“Class A”, as you call them). Dress Blues and Dress Whites. All others were “Technically”, Working Uniforms. 

[29navy]

In the 46 - 47 regs, the gray and khaki uniform were authorized to wear ribbons but were classified as the working uniform.

 

By at least the 1951 Regs, they had a Service Dress Khaki (which included wearing ribbons) in addition to the working khaki, which normally didn't include the cotton coat, but could. The officers dress khaki stayed until they got rid of them in 1975. I know they brought them back in 2008 but were dropped in 2012.

 

I do have a cotton gray uniform jacket (have to check if I've got the trousers, too). Do you care about the makers of the jacket and trousers. If so, I can take pics of those I have.

[sigsaye]

1 hour ago, 29navy said:

In the 46 - 47 regs, the gray and khaki uniform were authorized to wear ribbons but were classified as the working uniform.

 

By at least the 1951 Regs, they had a Service Dress Khaki (which included wearing ribbons) in addition to the working khaki, which normally didn't include the cotton coat, but could. The officers dress khaki stayed until they got rid of them in 1975. I know they brought them back in 2008 but were dropped in 2012.

 

I do have a cotton gray uniform jacket (have to check if I've got the trousers, too). Do you care about the makers of the jacket and trousers. If so, I can take pics of those I have.

Yes, but, that was,  like many things in Navy uniforms, by “Default”. Officers and CPOs were wearing the Khaki and Grays as a de facto dress uniform, to avoid wearing whites, which are awful. The Navy simply decided to codify the wearing. 

[BigBrother]

2 hours ago, 29navy said:

In the 46 - 47 regs, the gray and khaki uniform were authorized to wear ribbons but were classified as the working uniform.

 

By at least the 1951 Regs, they had a Service Dress Khaki (which included wearing ribbons) in addition to the working khaki, which normally didn't include the cotton coat, but could. The officers dress khaki stayed until they got rid of them in 1975. I know they brought them back in 2008 but were dropped in 2012.

 

I do have a cotton gray uniform jacket (have to check if I've got the trousers, too). Do you care about the makers of the jacket and trousers. If so, I can take pics of those I have.

No, but thank you. I’ve got plenty of the uniforms (cotton and gabardine, and have owned Palm Beach), now I’m just trying to track down the elusive shirt!

[sigsaye]

3 hours ago, 29navy said:

In the 46 - 47 regs, the gray and khaki uniform were authorized to wear ribbons but were classified as the working uniform.

 

By at least the 1951 Regs, they had a Service Dress Khaki (which included wearing ribbons) in addition to the working khaki, which normally didn't include the cotton coat, but could. The officers dress khaki stayed until they got rid of them in 1975. I know they brought them back in 2008 but were dropped in 2012.

 

I do have a cotton gray uniform jacket (have to check if I've got the trousers, too). Do you care about the makers of the jacket and trousers. If so, I can take pics of those I have.

I remember when I was a kid, one of my dad’s buddies, made Chief. I was amazed at his new uniforms. Blues, Whites, Dress Khakis and Work Khakis. Lots of stuff. Then in 1975, I was a PO3. I remember all the Chiefs on my ship, (Kitty Hawk), wearing their Dress Khakis for the last time and heading off to the CPO Club. Watched  our Commander Master Chief, wear the old style Dress Whites for the last time at a Change of Command. Sort of sad. I had always looked forward to wearing them myself someday. 

[Justin B.]

On 11/18/2025 at 5:54 PM, BigBrother said:

If we look at pg. 36 of the PDF, section 9-39, we see that for aviation uniforms, which they do consider a work uniform, a worsted (wool) khaki shirt is an option. Granted this is aviation specifically, but it breaks two assumptions above- USN wasn't always cotton under wool, and work uniforms did not exclusively use cotton shirts.

 

We may be talking about two different concepts of “wool shirts”. The one for the aviation winter working would be heavier wool flannel, as a warmth layer, which makes sense since the uniform goes back to the days of open cockpits. Flannel work shirts, like wool jumpers, could be laundered aboard ship but it took some extra care. Of course at the time officers had stewards to take care of it. And, it was a working uniform so it didn't have to look brand new.
 

The lightweight “tropical” or Palm Beach wool or wool-blend shirt was around in WW2 but really took off with the army in the ‘50s. They wanted something that looked sharp for warm-weather formations and garrison duty, without a coat. To control wrinkles khaki cotton was heavily starched, some soldiers used to say they had to break it open to put it on. The “TW” shirt looked a lot better for drape and wrinkling, but it was definitely dry clean material, required for officers but optional for enlisted.
 

Obviously navy khaki had a much longer life than gray, which never made it to “service dress” status. Grays and working khaki were a warm-to-moderate weather working uniform. SDK became the post WW2 warm weather “business suit” equivalent, and TW-type shirts were definitely a thing (which is why you hear the distinction of “wash khakis”) but more for shore duty. They were definitely around during WW2, and maybe even in gray, but I think pretty rare for the navy.
 

On 11/18/2025 at 6:34 PM, PatLaabs said:

Recently received this off of ebay. Some collectors magazine from the 90's that gives a good history on the gray uniform and it's features.

That is interesting, thanks for posting. Again the black or “gunmetal” cap badge is mentioned, but still no citation from a primary source. Either this was an abandoned early idea with little documentation or just a legend that took hold somewhere long ago.
 

 

On 11/18/2025 at 6:49 PM, AxolotlHelmet said:

Though I'd add this slide I helped someone identify. It depicts MOH recipient John Davis standing next to the USS Constellation, which he was CO of during WWII (watermarks aren't mine)

Could you give some more information on this ID please?

 

On 11/18/2025 at 6:53 PM, 29navy said:

Though you'd be interested in a uniform listing with prices from a tailor in Chicago. The guy was going through the Midshipman school in Abbot Hall Northwestern University in 1944. What I find interesting is that he only lists the white shirt, not the gray.

It also doesn't have the service cap frame. Maybe they were already wearing gray shirts for classroom or drill?
 

 

[AxolotlHelmet]

35 minutes ago, Justin B. said:

Could you give some more information on this ID please?

Sure. Here is the full slide the person provided a picture of that shows the inscription and his obituary, which mentions his commanding of the USS Constellation 

[Justin B.]

Thank you! That Constellation was the old sloop at Baltimore harbor, used as HQ for CINCLANT, which explains the admiral's aide loops.

[29navy]

A PT Boat officer in the Pacific

 

 

[PatLaabs]

Got a picture of my updated gray shoulder board collection. Got alot of additions of some rather hard to find ones recently. Additionally, missing from this is collection is another pair of Chief Pharmacist boards that are on my 42L sized gray jacket. 

 

Of note, the Boatswain has the gray stripe sewn onto the black stripe instead of being all one piece. 

[seanmc1114]

Marine who was wounded on Iwo Jima and died while being transported to Saipan on the Attack Transport USS Hansford APA-106 is buried at sea - February 1945

[Salvage Sailor]

Website Link -->>  United States Military Uniforms of World War II

US Navy Uniform Profile

Chief Petty Officer's Gray Working Uniform

(1943-1949)

[Salvage Sailor]

Pulled from the Forum bilges...

 

USN 1st Mar Div Doctor Uniform

 

 

 

Part of the new sections I'm working on HERE -->> Consolidated Topics - USN Uniforms with other branch SSI's and Devices

[Salvage Sailor]

On 2/15/2020 at 3:26 PM, Salvage Sailor said:

USN GREYS - Manufacturers, Distributors and Tailors labels montage from Uniforms in my collection.

 

PORTLITE UNIFORM

 

HASPELL NEW ORLEANS

 

HASTINGS CALIFORNIA & HASPEL NEW ORLEANS (Distributors)

 

BROWNING KING NEW YORK

 

JOHN WANAMAKER

 

SHULMAN & CO. NORFOLK VA

 

THE HALLE BROS. CO 

 

CLOTHCRAFT - (under contract by) THE JOSEPH & FLEISS CO.

 

NAVAL UNIFORM SERVICE, U.S. NAVY (also by the NAVAL CLOTHING FACTORY)

 

L. LEWIS & SON NEW YORK

 

FRANK COHEN NEWPORT R.I.

 

JACOB REED'S SONS PHILADELPHIA

 

JACKSON-RAYMOND

 

SANFORD SHIRT CO. BALTIMORE, MD

 

KUPPENHEIMER, GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS

 

MURDOCH'S SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

 

Two (2) more Manufacturers Labels

 

 

 

[KurtA]

On 12/16/2025 at 9:38 PM, PatLaabs said:

Got a picture of my updated gray shoulder board collection. Got alot of additions of some rather hard to find ones recently. Additionally, missing from this is collection is another pair of Chief Pharmacist boards that are on my 42L sized gray jacket. 

 

Of note, the Boatswain has the gray stripe sewn onto the black stripe instead of being all one piece. 

Nice collection.  I pick these up whenever I can.  Would like to get a pair of grey admiral boards, but the reproductions are so good - I can’t tell the difference.