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Study: USN WWII Gray Uniforms 1943-1949


Ricardo
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Salvage Sailor

Australian made Greys (old photos, sold this one years ago and probably should have kept it)

 

Aussie Grey 01.jpg

 

Aussie Grey 02.jpg

 

Aussie Grey 03.jpg

 

Aussie Grey 04.jpg

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Participants of the TRIDENT Conference on the lawn of the White House on May 24, 1943. Admiral King can be seen wearing the gray uniform in contrast to the other three American officers all wearing khaki.
 
The photo caption reads: "The president and prime minister with their Combined Chiefs of Staff at the White House on May 24, 1943, the last day of the TRIDENT conference. Standing from left to right: Field Marshal Sir John Dill, the senior British officer stationed in Washington; Lieutenant General Sir Hastings L. “Pug” Ismay, chief of staff to Churchill; Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles F.A. Portal, chief of the British air staff; General Sir Alan Brooke, chief of the Imperial General Staff; Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the British First Sea Lord; Admiral William D. Leahy, Roosevelt’s chief military adviser; General George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff; Admiral Ernest J. King, the U.S. chief of naval operations; Lieutenant General Joseph T. McNarney, an Army Air Forces pilot who served as Marshall’s deputy chief of staff. The senior AAF commander, General H.H. “Hap” Arnold, spent the conference in the hospital for treatment of a heart condition.”
 

 

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Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King arriving at his headquarters for the Potsdam Conference - July 15, 1945. Those rank boards he is wearing would have to be among the rarest of rare, I would think.

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The staff officers of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, U. S. Navy, ascend steps to their quarters near the "Little White House" (residence of President Harry S. Truman during the Potsdam Conference) in Babelsburg, Germany. Left front, Vice Admiral G. M. Cooke, Jr. Chief of Staff for Cominch; right front, Rear Admiral H. L. Naples of the Military Mission to Moscow; left rear, Captain A. S. McDill, aide-de-camp to Cominch; and right rear, Commander E. J. Gough, Medical Corps, U. S. Naval Reserve.

 

post-1761-0-63507400-1571772981_thumb.jpg

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Interesting that in the previous two photos all of the officers are wearing gold chin straps on their combination covers, rather than black.

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This topic is great. I am fascinated by King and am currently reading master of Sea Power. Very complex man. I really like the gray uniform. It is amazing how many people have no knowledge of this uniform.

 

Anyway below is a pair of Ensign shoulder boards I recently purchased.

 

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Admiral Ernest J. King (CNO/COMINCH), center, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (CINPAC-POA), left, and Admiral William F. Halsey (COMSOPACFOR), right, at CINPAC HQ, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 28 September 1943, when King held conferences there.

 

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I don't have any details on when or where this was taken.

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Admirals Raymond Spruance, Ernest King and Chester Nimitz and Army General Sanderford Jarmon somewhere in the Pacific. Note Admiral King is wearing his Naval Aviator wings on his pocket flap.

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Video footage of Admiral King wearing his gray uniform along with General Marshall

 

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/navy-admiral-ernest-j-king-general-of-army-george-c-news-footage/509674979

 

Video footage from the Quebec Conference shows Admiral William D. Leahy wearing the gray uniform

 

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/allied-military-leaders-sitting-around-table-talking-us-news-footage/815012352?adppopup=true

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Some less common gray shoulder boards. From left to right:

  • US Public Health Service
  • Unknown (possible manufacturing sample with NNC corps insignia)
  • Navy Nurse Corps
  • Medical Corps

post-132988-0-25641000-1571778489_thumb.jpg

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Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King arriving at his headquarters for the Potsdam Conference - July 15, 1945. Those rank boards he is wearing would have to be among the rarest of rare, I would think.

 

Interesting that there are no "scrambled eggs" on the visor of his hat. I could understand if the hat badge and chinstrap were black, but they're the bright normal finish.

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Interesting that in the previous two photos all of the officers are wearing gold chin straps on their combination covers, rather than black.

 

You had to have a gold chinstrap for blues and whites and could also wear it with khakis and grays, so the black chinstrap was an extra purchase that never really caught on.

 

 

 

Interesting that there are no "scrambled eggs" on the visor of his hat. I could understand if the hat badge and chinstrap were black, but they're the bright normal finish.

 

If King had got his way, gold chinstraps and scrambled eggs would have been worn on dress uniforms only, but he had to back down and they became optional for working uniforms.

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One Hospital Corps officer in gray, one in khaki, NAS New Orleans, 1945.

 

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https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/80-G-K-05000/80-G-K-5310.html

 

 

Commander John H. Balch, USNR during World War II. During World War I, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in action at Vierzy, France on 19 July 1918 and at Somme-Py, France on 5 October 1918. He served with the Third Battalion, Sixth Regiment Marines.

 

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A smattering of grays, including Admiral Mitscher, in the ComEighthFlt staff, 1946.

 

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A bit of a surprise, Adm. Leahy in grays and King in blues at the Quebec Conference, August 1943. RN admirals in whites, RCN in blues.

 

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  • 3 months later...
Salvage Sailor

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

 

PORTLITE UNIFORM

A MMC 07.jpg

 

HASPELL NEW ORLEANS

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HASTINGS CALIFORNIA & HASPEL NEW ORLEANS (Distributors)

B MoMC 08.jpg

 

BROWNING KING NEW YORK

C ENS 10.jpg

 

JOHN WANAMAKER

D LTJG 08.jpg

 

SHULMAN & CO. NORFOLK VA

E USCG LTJG 08.jpg

 

THE HALLE BROS. CO 

F LT 07.jpg

 

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

clothcraft.jpg.983b87cf94841d816f5648d9fdd85150.jpg

 

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

G LCDR 17.jpg

 

L. LEWIS & SON NEW YORK

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FRANK COHEN NEWPORT R.I.

Label 002.jpg

 

JACOB REED'S SONS PHILADELPHIA

Label 003.jpg

 

JACKSON-RAYMOND

Label 005a.jpg

 

SANFORD SHIRT CO. BALTIMORE, MD

Sanford.jpg.96efeb563b7b391a6e33bd597ecbf096.jpg

 

KUPPENHEIMER, GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS

Kuppenheimer.jpg.0df80f59f66a483856bb2560f1ae4b16.jpg

 

MURDOCH'S SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

Murdoch.jpg.175770db8bd074ef6bbddaa4d44a3008.jpg

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Salvage Sailor
USS Wyoming (Battleship # 32, later BB-32 and AG-17), 1912-1947

 

Under the terms of the 1930 London Treaty, Wyoming was "demilitarized" in early 1931, becoming a training ship, with the new hull number AG-17. With half of her twelve-inch guns removed, she served in that function for the rest of the decade, and beyond, making midshipmen cruises across the Atlantic on several occasions. She also took part in a number of amphibious landing exercises, providing experience that would be vital to the Navy and Marine Corps during the 1940s.
 
In November 1941, with formal U.S. participation in the Second World War clearly in the offing, Wyoming took on the mission of training thousands of sailors in the art and science of gunnery. Throughout the war, she operated in the Chesapeake Bay area, reportedly firing off more ammunition than any other U.S. Navy ship. Wyoming's remaining big guns were replaced with more five-inch and smaller weapons in early 1944, reflecting an increasing emphasis on anti-aircraft requirements. In July 1945 she became an experimental gunnery ship with what soon became the Operational Development Force, serving in that capacity until August 1947, when she decommissioned and handed the function over to USS Mississippi (AG-128). USS Wyoming was sold for scrapping in October 1947.

 

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Photo #: 80-G-334378
USS Wyoming (AG-17)
 
Chief Gunner's Mate Eugene Metzel, USN, who has served 24 years on board Wyoming, looks at the bronze plaque commemorating her First World War service with the Grand Fleet. Photographed in 1945.
Chief Metzel is wearing the World War II era service dress grey uniform.
 
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
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Salvage Sailor

Newly discovered in my "what the heck is this" photo collection.

 

Skipper of the crash boat at NAS St. Simons, GA April 30th, 1944 in USN Greys with the proper black hat chinstrap and buttons, but wearing a gold eagle

 

st simons island GA WWII Crash Boat Crew 4-30-1944 004.jpg

 

 

Full photograph - Rescue Boat Crew, NAS St. Simons GA 1944

 

st simons island GA WWII Crash Boat Crew 4-30-1944 001aa.jpg

 

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Newly discovered in my "what the heck is this" photo collection.

 

Skipper of the crash boat at NAS St. Simons, GA April 30th, 1944 in USN Greys with the proper black hat chinstrap and buttons, but wearing a gold eagle

Not sure of what you mean by gold eagle. The Officer crest on the gray hat is supposed to be the standard crest.

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Not sure of what you mean by gold eagle. The Officer crest on the gray hat is supposed to be the standard crest.

. No, theRegulation hat crests got both officers and CPOs were Blackened. But, most didnt bother, or couldnt get them.
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Black cap badges may have been proposed at some point, but they never got approval; the standard "bright" cap badges were regulation for gray working. An official Navy Department photo of the new accessories:

 

post-3982-0-38360000-1581915823_thumb.jpg

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Black cap badges may have been proposed at some point, but they never got approval; the standard "bright" cap badges were regulation for gray working. An official Navy Department photo of the new accessories:

 

attachicon.gifgray_cap_boards.jpg

Not sure of your source for that information, but they did exist, and were probably worn by some regardless.

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Not sure of your source for that information, but they did exist, and were probably worn by some regardless.

I know they existed, but I have never seen a contemporary photo of anyone wearing one. As for the source, a black cap badge never appears to my knowledge in regulations or orders 1941-1951. Obviously I can't cite the absence of a reference, but I can say for sure that a black cap badge does not appear in BuPers JJ55-3 16 Apr 1943, "Officers' Working Uniform -- Changes in" which announced the change from khaki to gray. No mention of a black cap badge in Navy Department Bulletin R-1126 08 Jun 1943, which added the black chin strap and deleted scrambled egg for "other than formal occasions." No mention in SecNav circular letter of 02 Jul 1943 which made black chinstraps and scrambled egg optional. No mention in BuPers circular letter 153-43, 08 Nov 1943 which added the gray uniform description to the Uniform Regulations, which reads under "11-32 Caps, Working Uniform (for all officers and chief petty officers)":

These items shall be designed to conform to combination cap (blue and white) and the garrison cap as prescribed for commissioned, warrant and chief petty officers, except that the cloth top of the former and the cloth of the latter shall be of the same color as the uniform.

If anyone has an official reference for authorization of a black cap badge I would be happy to see it, of course.

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Not sure of your source for that information, but they did exist, and were probably worn by some regardless.

Question: is the eagle blackened, or just heavily tarnished?

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There is zero tarnishing. It appears to be a conventional silver and gold colored insignia that was darkened. I don't know what process would have been used to achieve this, but it is not paint, or tarnish. More likely a chemical process, or plating, I'd think. On the reverse side, you can see the original color of the metal in small areas, as shown in the photos. The resulting color is a very, very dark gray, not black. This came with the black cap braid and black buttons. I do not see a manufacturer's mark on the reverse.

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Reverse side:

post-9787-0-17167400-1581961892_thumb.jpg

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The darkened insignia for both officers and CPO’s were used on forest green uniforms by naval personnel attached to USMC formations, primarily (but not limited to ) medical corps members.

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The darkened insignia for both officers and CPO’s were used on forest green uniforms by naval personnel attached to USMC formations, primarily (but not limited to ) medical corps members.

The insignia you describe were "bronze" colored, not darkened, or black, as intended for the gray uniform. They are not interchangeable.

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