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USS San Francisco Navy M1 helmet with Hawley liner


Yankeeman
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Since this is going to be my first post on this forum, i figured i would start off with one of my favorite helmets in my collection. Its a Schluter front seam, swivel bail with the heatstamp of 284A with a early Hawley liner. I was able to get this helmet from a Ebay auction that was selling off helmets that came from the USS San Francisco before it was scrapped in 1959, this was one of the last helmets available and i was able to get it for around 60$.8FE824AB-B06C-401F-BD46-C905BCE451E3.jpeg.5d2325d8c00a0c8a675184315396276b.jpegCFEE0857-6054-488E-8384-BB3AEF4BE0E3.jpeg.2e26ea43a89bc61a7d55d0431448c6ce.jpegB9F60E55-833F-4864-BE8F-29E30CB8EAE1.jpeg.ac384f6d9c42b0eb9fe269142985a69f.jpeg

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huntssurplus

Nice worn helmet. I remember those auctions, there were a lot of helmets being sold. I didn't get any but definitely a good find! Welcome to the forum!

Hunt

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1 hour ago, huntssurplus said:

Nice worn helmet. I remember those auctions, there were a lot of helmets being sold. I didn't get any but definitely a good find! Welcome to the forum!

Hunt

Yeah there was too many to count being sold and alot of good ones going pretty cheap, wish i could of gotten more but it is what it is. And thanks for the welcome

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That is a nice one.  I am mad at myself for not getting one of those, especially early on when they were really going cheap. I kept thinking it was no big deal when I kept getting out bid at the last minute because it seemed like they weren't going to run out any time soon. 

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The Rooster

Nice one yankeeman. Do a search for uss sanfrancisco helmets on the forum. One of our members

did some awsome research and write ups on these helmets.

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4 hours ago, Ray42 said:

That is a nice one.  I am mad at myself for not getting one of those, especially early on when they were really going cheap. I kept thinking it was no big deal when I kept getting out bid at the last minute because it seemed like they weren't going to run out any time soon. 

Same, wish i jumped in earlier and gotten more but better late than never.

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2 hours ago, rooster77 said:

Nice one yankeeman. Do a search for uss sanfrancisco helmets on the forum. One of our members

did some awsome research and write ups on these helmets.

I’m familiar with the posts your talking about, unfortunately i didn’t end up with any names or marking to look into on the Helmet or liner, if there was they were lost to time. 

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49 minutes ago, rooster77 said:

Still a cool helmet with a definate link to a famous ship and her crew!

Definitely 

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The Rooster

And rare too even with the ones sold. Theres a bunch of helmets out there with no known history whatso ever.

Yours has a verifiable one.

 

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10 hours ago, rooster77 said:

And rare too even with the ones sold. Theres a bunch of helmets out there with no known history whatso ever.

Yours has a verifiable one.

 

Having something like this helmet where you can verify its great history is a truly amazing thing to have, even if you can’t find the name behind the man who used it, though i really wish i could of.

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11 hours ago, rooster77 said:

And rare too even with the ones sold. Theres a bunch of helmets out there with no known history whatso ever.

Yours has a verifiable one.

 

I have always wondered about that. Surely a fantastic helmet, no doubt, but verifiable history, much less so. Helmets are not personal belongings. Might come from a ship, might have been on that ship for a long time, but who knows how many times liners have been changed? Even if a name is applied to the helmet, who knows how many others have had it? The one name that is written can be just a blink in its history. I looks at the helmet, saying nice shell and nice liner. But pinpointing to branch/ship/area/company/man ummm not so important, as it is littered with maybe’s, what if’s, could be and very very rarely verifiable.

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You are kind of right except that it is known that these helmets came off the San Francisco when she was scrapped and since she was decommissioned early in 1946 they are assured to be helmets that were used on the ship during world war 2. Now for who may have used them for most of their career and what ships they may have been on before the San Francisco you are right there is no guarantee when during the war these helmets were put on the ship. Since a very large number of the helmets found were fixed bails with Hawley liners or low pressure liners I would guess that they had been on the ship early on. 

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The Rooster

The way I understand it is that the whole crew was initially outfitted with Kelly helmets.

Those were all replaced with Brand Spanking New M1's. (Maybe in 1942) (Guess)(Hence all the Hawley Liners)

The whole crew got Brand new M1's. They were not on any other ships before or after the SanFransisco.

Many of them are personalised. They were used only for 2-3 years and then put up.

They were found in a diplatitated warehouse with a leaking roof. Thats why they are so trashed. But they were only used on the one ship by the WW2 wartime crew. They were not used for very long. The war ended and they were put away and not transfered to other ships.

And just for a little perspective on inflation. The Govt paid for the helmet and the liner combined with all accessories for.....

$1.98 a piece.

 

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If your ever in San Francisco, they have a USS SAN FRANCISCO MEMORIAL at LANDS END ,  it would make an interesting place for a photo shoot with your helmet , it's possible the helmet was used during the battle in late 1942?

 

 The memorial is made from the bridge wings of the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco. The damaged areas were removed in late 1942/early 1943 while repairing battle damage received during combat around Guadalcanal in November 1942. It is amazing to see these pieces of the ship standing on a bluff overlooking the Pacific. USS San Francisco was decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped in 1959.

 

 

https://usssanfrancisco.org/the-foundation-2/

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ArchangelDM

The sailors and marines caught hell from the Japanese at Guadalcanal. 
Im reading some amazing accounts of the marines watching the naval fight happen while on the canal, not knowing who was winning and who was who, only to find out in the morning that their had been many casualties for them and the Japanese fleet had pushed the navy and marines back. Now without supplies and food the marines where alone and Encircled on the island. 
 

harrowing accounts from the ships themselves during that first night battle also. 

 

incredible historic read if you get a chance on the battle of Guadalcanal 

 

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The Rooster

Richard Tregaskis Guadalcanal Diary contains a great description

of the night battle off Savo Island as viewed by the Marines on Guadalcanal.

It describes the beach the next morning littered with debris and bodies from the sunken ships

and the Marines realising that the Navy was gone.

Good book.

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ArchangelDM
6 hours ago, rooster77 said:

Richard Tregaskis Guadalcanal Diary contains a great description

of the night battle off Savo Island as viewed by the Marines on Guadalcanal.

It describes the beach the next morning littered with debris and bodies from the sunken ships

and the Marines realising that the Navy was gone.

Good book.


Harrowing accounts from the 2nd Div on Guadalcanal. 

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