1940's USN Baseball Cap

[Mark Sarsfield]

I was wondering if any of the museums had an original USN baseball cap on display?  It would be a solid color (most likely navy blue) with a standard cut and bill and not have any lettering on it.  Thanks.

[Rick]

I have nothing like that here at the Batfish.  I do have several phots (black and white) showing some of the officers and crew wearing that style of cap cannot tell the color though....

[Mark Sarsfield]

I'm pretty sure that it was navy blue.  The hat tends to be much darker than the khaki uniforms in the photos.  In the movie Mr. Roberts Henry Fonda wears a ball cap at one point during cargo operations that was navy in color.  The green caps tended to be worn by Army and AAF personnel.  I've been known to be wrong before, though.   

I did contact www.ballcap.com for photos of the 40's era caps.  They seem to be the industry expert on making vintage baseball caps.  They can make one to look like the Navy issue one, but they are a little pricey.  I found a guy on eBay selling a similar item under $9 + shipping - item # 330229678483. 

[Lance Dean]

Interesting.  Were they fitted caps?

[Mark Sarsfield]

Yes.  I got a reply back from the Ball Cap guy and he said that they make the midnight 1940's fitted cap all of the time.  So, apparently they were darker than navy blue.

[Paul Farace]

All fashion-forward submariners in WWII wore the short-billed cap during casual strolls down the deck in fair and foul weather, with or without other Navy and Army-issue ensembles!   

Our color movies of the COD crew wearig such caps seems to indicate that they were Army olive-drab (green). A few look black (dirty or a factor of the film exposure).

They sure wore a lot of them on COD... we have modern stand-ins... but I sure would love to have some of the WWII style made. I will look into it with out cap manufacturer (located in Cleveland!!!).

PF

[Mark Sarsfield]

Thanks, Paul.  I wouldn't be surprised if they scrounged up any cap that they could find.  The army and air force used a variety of green caps and also the pilots liked the midnight blue caps.  I'm sure that in many instances they were personal purchases, rather than issued material.

[Ctwilley]

Mark, I have an original one now. It's an OD Herring Bone Twill fitted soft cap. The bill isn't stiffened. It's marked with a USN on the inside. I talked to Capt. Woodward again and he confirmed that they were OD. I'll send you pictures if you want. If you look at the pictures in the national archives, it's EXACTLY what's pictured.

[Paul Farace]

Here is a COD 40mm gunner on Junk Duty wearing such a cap backwards where the short bill will not be able to shade his eyes!  This is the COD we're talking about!

Maybe this was the first hiphop gangsta rapper submariner?

[Ctwilley]

That's exactly what I have.

[Mark Sarsfield]

Cool!  I still plan on keeping my midnight blue replica cap as a "personal purchase". 

[Paul Farace]

Mark:
I've seen color photos of the blue caps as well... heck this BW pic might be a blue cap!

PF