Recently I came across a news item where the United States Navy once again redesigned its working uniform. Over the past decade, sailors complained they did not like the blue and purple or kelp green digital camouflage uniforms issued them by the fleet, nor did they appreciate having to change uniforms to and from work […]
Tag: usn
usmma uniforms: dress blues 1947-1951
dress blues, 1947-1951 The Cadet Corps did not start wearing round coats with double rows of buttons until July 1943 several months ahead of the dedication of Kings Point in September 1943. This same style of uniform was worn by midshipmen at Annapolis since at least the 1890s; the cut of which was standardized in […]
usmma caps & cap badge timeline
kings point caps The United States Maritime Commission Cadet Corps cap is the nucleus around which today’s headwear of the Regiment of Midshipmen at the United States Merchant Marine Academy is based. Following United States Navy regulations, the design of the original Cadet Corps cap was contemporary for the period: a standard Naval service cap […]
kings point publications
For the over seventy-five year existence of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, there is a small trove of publications detailing the quotidian of the Regiment. Find below a collection of documents put out over the years by both the Regiment and the Alumni Association. The White Paper The appearance in early 1969 of “The […]
usmm uniforms: slate gray uniform, 1943
On 16 April 1943 the Chief of Naval Personnel sent a letter to “All Ships and Stations” causing nothing short of a tempest in a teapot. The order authorized the creation of the working slate gray uniform (this uniform is known alternately as “working grays” or simply “grays”). As uniforms go, this one was immediately […]
branch distinction
References Although not fully detailed in the United States Lines chart, epaulets – or shoulder boards – followed the same design. Of interest is the fact that USL shoulder boards did not use the same button as the uniform coat.
usna dress blues 1940
This round coat was issued to Thaddeus John Jakubowski of Michigan upon his matriculation at the U.S. Naval Academy on September 13, 1940. This coat has the class stripe of a midshipman first-class; it was undoubtedly last worn when Mr. Jakubowski upon his graduation and when he left the Academy Yard on June 9, 1943. […]
usl seamen uniforms
United States Lines Seamen Uniforms United States Lines uniformed its unlicensed seamen in garb quite similar to that worn by sailors in the U.S. Navy. Besides being an economic measure where the company did not need to have custom work done by ship chandlers in New York since the uniforms were readily available, having a […]
graham covert
Graham C. Covert started his maritime career as a cadet at the New York Nautical School, served with the U.S. Navy Reserve Force as a Quartermaster during the First World War, and then worked on Standard Oil Company of New Jersey tankers and coastwise ships up until the Second World War. After he was called […]