RARE U-29 CAP FOR SAILOR WWI U-BOAT ACE’S CREW

$1,800.00 SOLD

Quantity Available: None

Item Code: 2020-107

Exceptional and very rare German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) enlisted winter uniform cap for a sailor assigned to U-29.  The cap (mütze) is in excellent condition with little obvious wear.  Undoubtedly, a proud sailor of Germany’s elite submarine service purchased this custom-made “Spécialité” model cap at Rudolph Karsstadt’s uniform shop in the port city of Kiel.  Attached to the cap is a black silk tally with the u-boat’s name embossed in gold (now tarnished with age): “S.M. Unterseeboot 29.”  The interior of the cap boasts a silk liner in peacock blue and a high quality brown leather sweatband.

U-29, commissioned in August 1914, sank four ships (12,934 tons) and damaged two others (4,317 tons) during a single patrol (16 February – 18 March 1915).  The submarine was commanded during this patrol by Pour le Mérite (“Blue Max”) recipient Otto Weddigen, who achieved fame in September 1914 for sinking three British armored cruisers on a single day while in command of U-9.  Weddigen and his crew perished on 18 March 1915 when U-29 was rammed and sunk by HMS Dreadnought in Pentland Firth off Scotland’s coast.

Weddigen remains the most celebrated German u-boat ace of World War I.  While he did not sink the most commerce shipping, his fame as a warship killer earned him enduring respect among the submarine service.  As such, the prolific number of hero postcards bearing his image printed during the war was only matched by flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, the “Red Baron.”

Regrettably the identity of the sailor who owned the cap is unknown.  One can only wonder if he shared Weddigen’s tragic fate in 1915.

U-boat items of this quality and historic significance rarely appear on the market.  An excellent opportunity to enhance your navy or u-boat collection with a unique uniform item that most collectors only dream of acquiring!  [SK]

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