German Naval Decals

[Lord_of_Sofa 6,335]

Recently someone asked about naval decals and camos. I instantly remembered this article from s-boot.net. I hope you enjoy it, even though it's just a copy paste.     Coat of Arms and Insignia of S-Boats and S-Flotilas The S-boats of the Kriegsmarine were only partly furnished with coat of arms and with letters. Many boats were showing the initials or names of the commanding officers on the bridge-superstructure partly in addition to the coat of arms of the flotilla. The boats of 4., 5., 6., 8. und 9. SFltl were furnished with common coats of arms. ____________________   In the 1. SFltl the boats did not carry the coat of arms of the flotilla, however, it was displayed by Tender "Tsingtau" on the forward side of the bridge. Some of the boats carried coat of arms. Reported are the "Panther" as the coat of arms of "S 28", the "Weasel on Torpedo" of boat "S 102", the "Tiger" on  "S 119", -"S 24" and "S 52", the "Squirrel" on "S 27", "S 51" and "S 47" as well as the "Jaguar" as coat of arms-animal on "S 26".   Coat of Arms of the 1. SFltl  - Picture: R. Beh   "S 19" at Cherbourg Oct. 1940 with the Tiger "S 28" in the Black Sea 1943 with the  Panther "S 24" at Stavanger Nov. 1940 with the Tiger "S 26" in the  Northsea 1940 with the Jaguar "S 52" 1941 at Rotterdamwith the Tiger "S 102" in the Black Sea 1943 with the Weasel on Torpedo   ____________________   n the 2. SFllt there existed a common flotilla-coat of arms, the boats, however, carried only single playing card symbols on the bridge.  Coat ot Arms of 2. SFltl   Bridge of "S 105" of 2. SFltl with Heart-Ace - Picture: Archives Förderverein "S 105" with Heart-Ace and "S 80" with Diamonds-Ace of 2. SFltl - Picture: Archives Michael Foedrowitz "S 46" of 2. SFltl with Acorn - Picture: Archives Michael Foedrowitz "S 67" of 2. SFltl - Picture: Archives H. Frank "S 211" of 2. SFltl with Cross-Ace and Bar - Picture: BfZ "S 190" of 2 . SFltl at Travemünde with Diamond-Ace with Bar - Picture: Archives H. Kloetzke "S 210" of 2. SFltl with Spades-Ace and Bar - Picture: Archives H. Kloetzke   ____________________   The boats of the 3. SFltl displayed at the hull under the bridge pictures of different inhabitants of the sea. A common flotilla-coat of arms was not displayed on the boats. Coat of Arms of the 3. SFltl  - Picture: K.H. Jacob     "S 30" of 3. SFltl at Pola (Firella) June 1944 - Picture: Archives Oblt.z.S. a.D. Backhaus Mermaid S 30 of 3. SFltl Swordfish S 31 of 3. SFltl Flying Fish 1) S 33 of 3. SFltl See Snake S 34 of 3. SFltl Deap-Sea Fish S 35 of 3. SFltl Sea Horse 3) S 35 of 3. SFltl Lobster 3) S 36 of 3. SFltl Sea Star   S 54 of 3. SFltl Crocodile 2)   S 54 of 3. SFltl Crocodile 2) S 55 of 3. SFltl Penguin S 56 of 3. SFltl Shark  S 57 of 3. SFltl Dolphin S 58 of 3. SFltl Saw Fish) S 59 of 3. SFltl Sea Lion S 60 of 3. SFltl Flying Fish 1) S 61 of 3. SFltl Mermaid 1) The coat of arms was taken to "S 60" by the CO, Oblt.z.S. Haag, after loss of "S 31" the layout was  changed a bit.  2) The Crocodile was used in two different forms. Perhaps the "Otter" is a older form of Crocodile. 3) The Lobster was onnly coat of arms during operation Barbarossa. The coat of arms od the 3. SFltl were related to the boats on basis of a memory-plag of Oblt.z.S. Weber, the notes of Oblt.z.S. Backhaus and Oblt.z.S. Haag as well as by the comparison of the camouflage-colours of the boats by Ola Erlandsson.  ____________________   On the boats of the 4. SFltl the first letter of the commanding officer's name were painted onto the bridgehaous, the flotilla-coat of arms - the Panther - was painted on the hull under the bridge. Originally singel letters were used, later boats carried a combination of letters. On the sterns of some boats comets with numbers or signs were carried. "S 109" had a "Fox on Torpedo", similar to the "Weasel on Torpedo" of "S 102", as coat of arms before she got the Panther. Coat of Arms of 4. SFltl on both Sides under the Bridge Oblt.z.S./Kptlt Hans-Jürgen Seeger, "S 205" 4. SFltl Lt.z.S./Kptlt Karl-Eberhard Karcher, "S 188" 4. SFltl Oblt.z.S. Klaus Hinrichs *), "S 204" 4. SFltl "S 204" (right) and "S 205" (left) on 13.05.1945 "S 63" of 4. SFltl with "H" on the Bridge - Picture: Archives PT Boats, Inc. "S 48" of 4. SFltl with  Letter "G" on the Bridge - Picture: Archives Erling Skjold *) "Lang" probably is a nickname ____________________   Die Boote der 5. SFltl trugen als einheitliches Flottillen-Wappen einen Adler auf Torpedo auf beiden Seiten unterhalb des Brückenaufbaus. Andere Kennzeichen der Boote sind nicht bekannt. Wappen der 5. SFltl beidseitig unterhalb der Brücke ____________________   The boats of 6. SFltl displayed a common Flotilla-Coat of Arms on the bow, the sword with the Baltic crokss. Other insignia for the boat are not known other than for "S 76".  Coat of Arms of  6. SFltl on both Sides of the Bow "Iron Fist" on the Bridge of "S 76" (6. SFltl) - Picture: Archives Freundeskreis Schnellboote und Korvetten Two boats of 6. SFltl at Gosport May 1945 - Picture: Archives Freundeskreis Schnellboote und Korvetten S-Boat of 6. SFltl with Letter "S"in the Channel - Picture: Archives Förderverein ____________________   In the 7. SFltl the initial of the first name of the commanding officer was painted on the hull under the bridge. A flotilla-coat of arms has not become known. "S 154" of 7. SFltl with Letter "G"  on the Hull - Picture: Archives Ola Erlandsson Unknown Boat of 7. SFltl with Crossbow as Insignia - Picture: Archives Kloetzke ____________________   In the 8. SFltl the flotilla-coat of arms - the springing rensdeer in a circle - was painted on the hull under the bridge. The first letter of the first name of the commanding officer was painted on the side of bridge. At the stern the initials of the commanding officer was painted.  Coat of arms of the 8. SFltl on both sides under the bridge, the ren was a reminder of the deployment in Northern Norway   Oblt.z.S. Walter Knapp, "S 198" 8. SFltl Oblt.z.S. Hans-Joachim (Achim) Quistorp, "S 199" 8. S-Fltl Oblt.z.S. Hans-Joachim (Achim) Quistorp, "S 199" 8. S-Fltl Oblt.z.S. Walter Knapp, "S 198" 8. SFltl ____________________   In the 9. SFltl the boats carried a common flotilla-coat of arms on both sides of the hull under the bridge and a coat of arms-animal on the bridge resp. skull-bridge. Coat of arms of the 9. SFltl on both sides under the bridge      "S 150" of 9. SFltl bith bent down forecastle, coat of arms "Bear on Ball" on the bridge – Picture: Archives R. Mundt Wreck of "S 144" of the 9. SFltl salvaged by USN with flotilla coat of arms – Picture: US National Archives, College Park, Maryland, USA   Animal in the 9. SFltl - Ape Animal in the 9. SFltl - Bear Animal in the 9. SFltl - Owl Animal in the 9. SFltl - Bat Animal in the 9. SFltl - Shark Animal in the 9. SFltl - Raven Animal in the 9. SFltl - Sea Lion Animal in the 9. SFltl - Scorpio The coat of arms of the boats of the 9. SFltl were assembled in accordance with the smoker's table of  Oblt.z.s. Rabe ("S 130"). ____________________ As only boat of the 10. SFltl "S 305" (Oblt.z.S. Gunnar Kelm) according to statement of its last commanding officer was marked with a capital "G" as insignia. As far as he knows the other boats of the flotilla had neither coat of arms nor other markings. Last Muster in the Gelting Bight, on the upper right Hand Side Boat "S 305" with the "G" - Picture: Archives Gunnar Kelm ____________________ About coat of arms for the 11., 21., 22., and the 24. SFltl no knowledge is available. ____________________ The boats of the Fast Submarine-Chaser-Group, stationed at Bergen, displayed the stylized head of a panther with crossed swords as coat of arms on both sides of the hulll under the bridge. "S 16" beached on Malø - Picture: Archives Erling Skjold ____________________   In the Schnellboot-School-Flotillas it was usual to mark the boats with serial letters. Boats of a School-Flotilla at Swinemünde - Picture: Archives Förderverein Als die Boote der 1. S-Boot-Schul-Flottille in den Einsatz nach Norwegen geschickt wurden, erhielten sie statt der Buchstaben am Bug taktische Zeichen unter der Brücke ähnlich denen der ersten Boote im Mast. Ähnlich wurde mit den Booten der 2. S-Schul-Fltl im Einsatz verfahren. Das havarierte "S 90" auf Hånesholmen - Bild: Archiv Johan Aakre ____________________   In the S-Boat-Skool-Flotillas it was usual to mark the boats with serial letters.  Boats of a School-Flotilla at Swinemünde - Pictures: Archives Förderverein When the boats of the 1. S-Boat-School-Flotilla were sent to deployment in Norway the changed their letters on the bow to tactical signs under the bridge. The same happened in the 2. S-Boat-School-Flotilla. Tactical Sign of "S 90" in Norway - Picture: Archives Johan Aakre ____________________   The tenders "Tsingtau" and "Tanga" had also coat of arms, which were attached to the frontsides of the bridges. In case of "Tsingtau" it was the coat of arms of the flotilla. About coat of arms of the other tenders no knowledge is available.   Coat of Arms of Tender "Tsingtau" - Picture: R. Beh Coat of Arms of Tender "Tanga" - Picture: K. Scheuch

[P8triot 3,894]

I particularly like the sea creatures.  They seem to present the most utility but honestly I like them all.  Thank you for the informative article and pictures. 

[Lord_of_Sofa 6,335]

2 minutes ago, P8triot said:

I particularly like the sea creatures.  They seem to present the most utility but honestly I like them all.  Thank you for the informative article and pictures. 

Then you should definitely visit the website for more pictures like this

http://s-boot.net/sea-animals 3sfltl.html

 

I like they playing cards, but my all time favorite is this. "Eines von beiden" ("one of both")

Bemerkung:	Brückenhaus von AF 26.
Bildquelle:	Peter Kreuzer