The U-Boat War Badge was instituted by Großadmiral Erich Raeder on 13 October 1939 and was a direct descendant of the U-Boat badge of the Kaiser's Navy, being almost identical in its basic design, that of an oval wreath of laurel leaves with a U-Boat in its centre. The badge was "updated" by having the older model submarine replaced by a representation of the Type VII, the mainstay of the U-Boat force in World War Two, and having the Imperial Crown at the top of the Badge replaced by the new National Emblem (Hoheitszeichen)- an eagle with outstretched wings grasping a swastika. One further change was that the U-Boat faced from right to left instead of left to right as on the Imperial Navy U-Boat badge.

Typical dimensions for the badge were a width of 48mm and a height of 39mm. On the reverse was a hinged pin fitting and retaining hook.

The Badge was to be awarded to all crewmen who had completed at least two war cruises though this qualifying period could be waved if the crewman had been wounded in action. Posthumous awards were also occasionally made, and these had their own distinct award document.

The U-Boat Badge was worn on the left breast of the shirt or jacket and below the Iron Cross is one was held. Few war badges were worn with more pride by their owners than the covetted U-Boat War Badge.

 

The Badge was designed by artist Paul Casberg of Berlin and originally manufactured by the prestigious Berlin firm of Schwerin. First production of the Badge began in November 1939. It is believed that Schwerin was the sole manufacturer of the badge until the early part of 1941. The Badge was die struck in "Tombak" bronze with a mercuric fire-gilded finish, the highlights being hand burnished.

Subsequently, a large number of other manufacturers produced this badge. Some of these were of a quality as good as that of Schwerin, other less so. As the war progressed, expensive metals such as Tombak were replaced by cheaper materials such as Zinc, and the fire gilded finishes often replaced by cheap heat sealed lacquers (Brennlacq).

Shown here is a wide range of original examples of this badge by many of the different manufacturers, with the differences and/or important features and marks of each maker explained. Any visitor to this site who wishes to contribute images of badges by other makers is invited to get in touch. All contributed images will be fully credited.

 

Badges are shown here in alphabetical order by the name of the manufacturer and grouped into two bands, firstly the early higher quality Tombak badges, then the later Zink pieces.

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The Tombak Badges

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One of the rarer U-Boat Badge types, the version manufactured by Boerger & Co. is only rarely found with the makers mark, the logo Beco in itallic script impressed on the reverse face of the submarine. More often, they are found unmarked, but their distinctive styling makes them easy to identify.

For some time this design with its propellor-less submarine and solid area around the neck of the eagle, was commonly condemned as being fake ( despite the exact design being shown on original wartime period propaganda cards !!) .

Once accepted as genuine, it tended to be referred to as a variant of the Hymmen design. This design however, is shown in the 1940 catalogue of the firm of Deumer in Lüdenscheid and although no Deumer maker marked examples have yet emerged to settle the matter conclusively, the circumstantial evidence certainly points to Deumer as the likely manufacturer of this type.

This firm used a design very similar to that assumed to have been used by Deumer, but onclose examination there are sevarl areas of difference.

 

Fortunately, both Zinc examples with exactly the same design and miniatures of the badge in Tombak, have been encountered with the LDO code number (L/53) of the Hymmen firm, safely confirming Hymmen as the manufacturer of this Tombak type.. .

Aesthetically, surely the finest of all the U-Boat Badge designs, the eagle on this award is beautifully designed and skillfully executed by the die cutter. Although no maker marked examples have yet been noted, circumstantial evidence that Juncker is the manufacturer of this type is very strong.

 

 

The Juncker badge was produced in a variety of styles, some having the swastika fretted out and some also having the area around the deck gun fretted out. PIn styles could also vary, with a long straight pin being encountered also. Both round wire a flat wire retaining hooks may also be found on Juncker badges.

 

Note the straight pin with round wire retaining hook at left, with the more commonly encountered pin style, this trime with flat wire retaining clip at right. (Comparison courtesy Erik Krogh)

An extremely rare variant of the Juncker badge also exists with a screwback fitting. The fitting is, unsurprisingly, identical to that used on Juncker made Luftwaffe Qualification badges, with a small screw stud and large separate counter-plate.

 

The "ultimate" Juncker U-Boat Badge with screw back fitting. (Courtesy Helmut Weitze)

 

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Examination of examples of the U-Boat Badges in Tombak by Mayer, Schickle and Zimmermann, all based in Pforzheim shows them to be identical and the result of some level of co-operation between the firms.

Mayer badges typically feature the style of pin shown here ( often marked with the makers LDO code L/18), in combination with the space between three out of the four arms of the swastika being voided..

The design used by Meybauer bears a strong similarity to that of Beco, another Berlin firm and against suggesting either co-operation between forms or both firms sources their diues from the same supplier.

The Meybauer badges feature a slender pin , usually with a fine round wire retaining clip. The makers LDO code L/13 may often be found on the reverse of the submarines conning tower. The stamping is very small and not easily discerned in this shot.

Again, the design used by this firm bears a strong similarity to that used by Beco and Meybauer. Petz & Lorenz badges however, used a layer of silvering over the base Tombak before the gilding was applied. Badges where the top coat of gilding has worn often leave the impression that the base metal is silver coloured, but this is simply the intermediate layer of silvering becoming exposed.

Petz & Lorenz badges feature an extremely crude hinge style, resembling a set of goalposts, around which the pin is simply wound. No other manufacturer used this style.

The design used by Schickle can be clearly seen to match exactly the obverse features of the Mayer badge, down to the fretting out of the spaces between just three of the arms of the swastika.

The Schickle badge however, usually features its own distinct, and very wide, hinge with a simple "wrap around" needle pin.

It should be noted however that at least one example of the Schickle badge has been seen with a flat "coke bottle" shaped pin and marked with the firms L/15 LDO code.

It is believed that the Schwerin firm of Berlin were the first firm to be contracted with the manufacture of the U-Boat Badge.

Although the design of the eagle is exceptionally poor for such a prestigious manufacture, the physical quality of the badges themselves is first class, with mint examples showing superb quality fire gilded finishes with burnished highlights.

There are two basic variants of the badge itself ( though the variety of pin and retaining clip styles, flat or domed hinge retaining pins and makers marking or lack thereof allow for a larger number of "types" to be collected thery can hardly be termed as significant "variants"..

Type I

What is generally considered to be the first type of Schwerin badge will normally carry the makers mark "Schwerin / Berlin 68" stamped into the centre reverse of the badge ( sometimes, as here, the stamping can be quite faint). A round wire retaining clip is generally encountered on this type. This first type can be seen to have a slightly narrower "neck" to the eagle when viewed from the reverse..

The second, believed later, type of Schwerin badge when viewed from the reverse, can be seen to have a slightly thicker neck to the eagle, and the foredeck area of the submarine ahead of the deck gun slightly raised. This latter point is not a design feature but merely caused by the manner in which the badge has been struck. The later Schwerin badges normally feature a flat wire retaining clip and are often non-maker marked..

The Steinhauer U-Boat Badge is somewhat of a mystery. Steinhauer's own catalogue clearly shows a badge using the same design as Schwerin. However, the Destroyer and MInesweeper badges also resemble Schwerin designs and differ slightly from known (maker marked) Steinhauer pieces so it is assumed that Steinhauer simply used illustrations of the approved designs as made by the orimary manufacture of the Kriegsmarine War Badges, Schwerin, possibly in advance of their own tooling being available.

Unfortunately, no known accepted original example of a Steinhauer marked U-Boat badge has yet emerged, leaving identification of their product down to speculation and circumstantial evidence.

The design shown here matches the design used by Klein & Quenzer, Wächtler & Lange and, it is believed, Steinhauer & Lück for their Zinc badges. Though once again, no Steinhauer marked Zinc example has yet emerged and attribution of the Zinc type to Steunhauer is again based on circumstantial evidence.

Klein & Quenzer were not known to have manufactured Kriegsmarine War Badges during the period in which Tombak was being used so can probably be ruled out as the manufacturer of this type in Tombak.

This may therefore be the elusive Steinhauer & Lück U-Boat War Badge but Wächtler & Lange cannot be positively ruled out.

Once again, this design can be seen to match that used by Mayer and Schickle, but an additional clue allows even unmarked specimens to be identified as being by this firm as it is believed that only Zimmermann fretted out the spaces between all four arms of the swastika.

The above example carries the Zimmermann LDO code L/52 on the pin.

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This badge has been the subject of much speculation and debate as to its origins. The names of two known existing French firms, Baqueville and Mourgeon have been linked with its manufacture. Certainy the material (Zinc), finish, construction etc are all perfectly correct for wartime period badges. The general concensus of opinion at this time is that they are indeed genuine wartime badges, but there remains some doubt about the exact circumstances of their manufacture and over why German naval awards would be permitted to be produced by a "foreign" firm when so many German firms were able to manufacture them. These badges are instantly identifable due to the distinctive style of hinge used for the pin fitting.

 

 

 

 

The F&BL U-Boat Badge, although made from mid-late war Zinc material, is one of the better pieces which may be encountered. It is normally a fairly crisp striking, with the typical shield shaped chest to the eagle, and solid swastika. Retail sales examples will have the company LDO code L/56 in relief on the reverse centre of the submarine. The example shown has a wide flat pin but original examples may also be found with needle pins, though these are usually on non-marked examples by this maker..

This manufacturer produced one of the more unusual designs, with the area around the neck of the eagle solid rather than cut away as normally found on U-Boat Badges by other makers.

This type has often been considered suspect by some, and indeed copies do exist of this style in Tombak, often wirth spurious Schwerin maker marks. The design however is a perfectly legitimate wartime one. These are occasionally encountered, as shown here, with a small, and usually very faint, incused L/53 mark at the 3 o-clock position on the reverse.

The U-Boat Badge produced by this firm used the more economical die casting method rather than die striking. This allowed both the hinge and retaining clip to be cast integrally as part of the badge.

The design features a solid swastika, but coupled with a narrower style of chest to the eagle. The makers mark, the letters RK within a circle is in relief on the centre reverse of the submarine.

 

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Klein & Quenzer of Idar-Oberstein

The U-Boat War Badge from this prestigious maker were die struck in zinc and had the usual solid swastika, but with an eagle having the less common narrow chest. The badges had excellent quality pin fittings with the pinsometimes bearing the manufacturers code "65" on its outer face. The Klein & Quenzer Badge also exists with a cut-out swastika.

 

 

 

 

Note on both the large image of the unmarked specimen and the smaller image above of the "65" marked piece, that the hinge block is mounted at a slight angle, a commonly encountered feature with these badges.

 

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This firm used a totally different design for its Zinc badges, to that used on its Tombak examples. This generic style has a shield shaped chest to the eagle and solid swastika. It was very similar to the Orth badge with only small differences in die characteristics. Mayer badges usually feature a good quality hinge and flat pin.

When marked, the L/18 code may be found either on the reverse face of the badge, or on the pin.

Definitely one of the finer U-Boat War Badges, Meybauer's product is die struck from Zinc, but features a finely segmented swastika. The pin fitting is of good quality with the shaft of the pin soldered to the barrel of the hinge rather than simply wrapped around it. The makers code L/13 is stamped onto the reverse centre of the submarine.

 

 

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Friedrich Orth of Vienna

 

One of the more common makes of badge likely to be encountered by the collector, this firm's design followed closely that of its fellow Viennese firm Rudolf Souval , both mirroring the earlier Tombak designs used by firms like Beco and Meybauer. The Orthg badge may be found with both solid and fretted out swastikas and both versions are shown here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reverse of the Orth badge carried the manufacturers logo, consisting of the relief letters f.o. sitting on a horizontal line. A horizontal needle pin is typical though vertical pinned examples also exist.

 

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Rudolf Souval of Vienna

Badges by Rudolf Souval are some of the most controversial that the collector will encounter, principally because the firm continued to manufacture them for several decades after the end of the war. Not only did the firm continue to manufacture badges using the original tooling, but even cut new tools for badge they had not produced during wartime.

The situation is confused even further by the fact that the firm used up remaining part stocks to assemble badges after the war which had been struck during wartime, using leftover original fittings, before changing over to new fittings unlike any used during wartime.

Souval badges may be encountered in broadly these categories.

Original wartime produced left over stock.

Original wartime produced leftover stock to which the firms L/58 stamp was applied postwar.

Postwar produced stock with correct wartime pattern fittings.

Postwar produced stock with modern postwar fittings.

 

To confuse matters even further, much misinformation has been published regarding the Souval logo which suggested that the firms initials R.S. were used in angular form during wartime and in rounded form only on postwar examples. The fact is that Souval used boty angular and rounded letter forms during wartime..

 

 

Not suprisingly, many collectors avoid buying Souval marked pieces, but the firm certainly did produce the U-Boat Badge during wartime and original examples can be encountered. The piece illustrated above is believed to be a true wartime example.

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Steinhauer & Lück of Lüdenscheid

The type of badge shown here, matching the design used by both Klein & Quenzer and Wächtler & Lange, was encountered in numbers on boards of left over badge stock which were regularly made up for sale to allied occupation troops in and around Lüdenscheid during the immediate postwar period, and often found with other badges which are known to have been produced by Steinhauer & Lück.

The badge can be encountered with a range of different pins, hinges and hooks, some of which match types used on known original Steinhauer & Lück badges.

There is therefore reasonable circumstantial evidence that this is the Zinc version of the U-Boat manufactured by that firm, though once again, no maker marked example has yet emerged to positively confirm this.

 

 

 

 

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Wächtler & Lange of Mittwaida

This firm used the same design of badge as Klein & Quenzer and, it is believed, Steinhauer & Lück. The obverse faces of the badges by all three firms is virtually identical , suggesting either some sort of co-operation between the three firms, or that all three purchased their die tooling from the same supplier and were supplied with "sister" dies produced from the same master.

The badge was die struck in zinc and normally has the usual solid swastika.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The maker mark on the Wächtler & Lange badge is found stamped on the underside of the pin in the form of the company's Präsidialkanzlei supplier code "100".

 

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Wiedmann

 

 

The maker mark found on badges by this firm , consisting of a "W" within a circle with small dots above the top of the letter, was incorrectly identified for many years as belonging to the firm of Wernstein, but in recent times was conclusively proven by German collector Bastian Brücker as in fact belonging to the firm of Wiedmann.

 

Badges produced by the Wiedmann firm have a distinctive style of hinge and usually have the retaining clip attached to the reverse of the submarine. The makers mark is stamped in the position at the base of the wreath reverse usually occupied by the retaining clip. The maker mark, as here, is often very faint and almost obliterated by the gilt laquered finish.

 

A variant also exists with the retaining clip it its more usual place at the base of the wreath, instead of in the centre reverse of the submarine. This type is considerably rarer.

 

 

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Gebrüder Wegerhoff of Lüdenscheid

 

The Wegerhoff badge is one of the finer Zinc made pieces. It features the more slender style of chest to the eagle and a finely segmented swastika.

Both the hinge and retaining clip are die cast integrally with the badge. The makers mark, consisting of the letters GWL within a circular border is impressed on the reverse of the submarine. These badges did not hold their gilding particularly well and surviving examples usually show a very pale finish.

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Zimmermann of Pforzheim

As previously stated, this design was also used by Mayer and Schickle. However, Schickle went out of business before the use of Zink for Kriegsmarine war badges, and we know that Mayer changed to a different design for their Zinc badges. It is therefore logical that it should at least be considered possible that this badge represents Zimmermann's product in Zink. The omission of the fully fretted Swastika may simply be a cost cutting measure to simplify production.

It must of course also be coinsidered possible that Mayer initially continued using this design after switching to Zinc for the base metal before changing to their new design.

 

 

 

 

 

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Major Variants

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Hollow Backed Badges

Hollow backed U-Boat Badges have been regarded with extreme suspicion by many collectors for some time, but the emergence of hollow backed examples directlz from the hands of the veterans who earned them has established at least two types which are known to be genuine. The most impressive of these is the Schickle type. though both it and the Deumer type which also exists are rare anbd desirable items.

The Schickle Type

 

 

Hollow version of the Schickle U-Boat Badge. Note that it bears the same elongated hinge as the solid version. Such hollow badges would not be award pieces, but retail examples purchased privately as a matter of personal choice.

The Deumer Type

 

 

Cloth Embroidered Badges

 

It appears that virtually the full range of Kriegsmarine War Badges were manufactured im embroidered form. The extreme scarcity of photographic evidence of their wear however, would suggest that such versions were not popular. A cloth embroidered version of the U-Boat Badge existed in machine embroidered golden yellow yarn on a dark blue oval cloth base and photographic evidence of its wear does indeed exist.

 

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U-Boat Ace Wolfgang Lüth wears cloth embroidered versions of both the Iron Cross and the U-Boat Badge.

The U-Boat Badge with Diamonds was produced by the Schwerin firm in Berlin. The Diamonds badge was based on the standard production badge but had a solid silver Swastika, set with nine small diamonds - one in the centre and two in each arm, applied over the top of the original swastika. These badges may be encountered in real silver or in fire gilded tombak like the standard badge.Two distinct different sizes of swastika may also be encountered. It is not known why this is and may simply be down to the badges being made in small separate batches. The Swastika was cast as was common for items being made in very small numbers where the cost of producing a die tool was prohibitive.

 

It is believed that the earliest badges were in fire gilded Tombak and that the base metal was subseuqently changed to real silver.

The moulds for such small run castings deteriorate quickly and it is probably the the reason for the two sizes of swastika is simply due to the second mould made being of slightly differing dimension. Each European cut stone was individually set into the Swastika with a claw mount.

The badge illustrated above, by courtesy of Helmut Weitze of Hamburg is the actual piece worn by U-Boat ace Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, commander of U-96. This is the type in solid silver with the smaller Swastika and is believed to be the second type made, the large swastika variant being the early version. U-Boat commanders became eligible for the badge after being awarded the Oakleaves to the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.

The following commanders would have been eligible but it has not been possible to establish with absolute certainty whether each and every one did actually receive the award. The award was not an official decoration, but was bestowed as a personal token of appreciation by the Commander in Chief Navy.

 

Fregattenkapitän Albrecht Brandi

Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Bleichrodt

Korvettenkapitän Otto von Bulow

Korvettenkapitän Carl Emmermann

Kapitanleutnant Engelbert Endrass

Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Guggenberger

Korvettenkapitän Robert Gysae

Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Hardegen

Kapitän zur See Werner Hartmann

Korvettenkapitän Werner Henke

Fregattenkapitän Otto Kretschmer

Kapitänleutnant Hans-Günther Lange

Korvettenkapitän Georg Lassen

Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock

Fregattenkapitan Heinrich Liebe

Kapitän zur See Wolfgang Lüth

Korvettenkapitän Johann Mohr

Kapitänleutnant Rolf Mützelburg

Kapitän zur See Karl Friedrich Merten

Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien

Kapitänleutnant Joachim Schepke

Korvettenkapitän Adalbert Schnee

Kapitän zur See Klaus Scholtz

Kapitän zur See Viktor Schutze

Korvettenkapitän Herbert Schultze

Fregattenkapitän Reinhard Suhren

Kapitänleutnant Rolf Thomsen

Fregatenkapitän Erich Topp

A further special version of the U-Boat War badge badge was awarded to Großadmiral Karl Dönitz in his capacity as Befehlshaber der U-Boote. This version was in gold and had twelve additional Diamonds, one in each of the laurel leaves in the central of the three rows of leaves.