Tweet
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i166/ ... G_1687.jpg
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i166/ ... G_1688.jpg
I hope you can bear with me if I ramble on. In 1994 I was visiting Russia for the first time. Aside from the normal tourist activities, I was hoping to obtain a Soviet era submarine badge. Twenty years earlier I was a crew member* on the Hughes Glomar Explorer, which raised a portion (38 ft) of the Golf II, K-129 from 16,500 feet in the North Pacific. During exploitation of the wreck, we found a crew members inspection kit consisting of his badge (white metal with red enamel star) and belt buckle in remarkably good condition. Naturally, taking souvenirs was not permitted, but I always wanted one as a token of a memorable experience.
*I was a consultant, and interviewed on camera, for Michael White's film AZORIAN:The Raising of The K-129.
While in St. Petersburg, I visited the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery and was surprised to see a man wearing a submarine badge on his chest. When I approached him, I could see it was not the badge I was looking for. As I got closer, I could recognize what looked like the Russian Imperial double headed eagle emblem on the badge. He was middle aged, it obviously wasn't originally his so I stopped him and offered to buy it. I was surprised when he accepted. Not having a common language, I somehow received the impression it had belonged to a deceased relative. It was hard times, he wanted US dollars and he settled for $10. I later found some Soviet submarine badges at a flea market in Moscow.
Afterwards, I never gave the badge much thought. I just assumed it was what it appeared to be, a Russian Imperial Submarine badge and it put it with other stuff I had collected over the years. Recently, as the years accumulate, I've been organizing memorabilia, including my Air Crew wings, Korean war blood chit, flight records etc. I decided to research the badge and found it doesn't exist! The only Imperial submarine badge that I could find searching the web is the 1909 Imperial Russian Officer's Submarine Graduation badge, which looks nothing like my badge. I even purchased Prichard's book, seeing it referenced a number of times. No such badge in his book or many web collections I've viewed. As for the badge, It is well made and very nicely detailed, the masts and guns (barrel and Breech) are not attached. The shaft and screw are also separately formed. It is obviously not cliché (a term I learned from Prichard's book) and appears to be a very fine solid lost wax casting. I tested a scratch on the back with nitric acid and it seems to be a low silver copper base alloy. I'm now very intrigued by the mystery. I'm attaching photos and hope you can provide some information about it. It seems too good to be a fake. Why would anyone go to such an effort to fabricate a badge that doesn't seem to exist. Anyone have any information on this badge?
I'm not sure I'm posting images correctly. I hope they show up.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i166/ ... G_1688.jpg
I hope you can bear with me if I ramble on. In 1994 I was visiting Russia for the first time. Aside from the normal tourist activities, I was hoping to obtain a Soviet era submarine badge. Twenty years earlier I was a crew member* on the Hughes Glomar Explorer, which raised a portion (38 ft) of the Golf II, K-129 from 16,500 feet in the North Pacific. During exploitation of the wreck, we found a crew members inspection kit consisting of his badge (white metal with red enamel star) and belt buckle in remarkably good condition. Naturally, taking souvenirs was not permitted, but I always wanted one as a token of a memorable experience.
*I was a consultant, and interviewed on camera, for Michael White's film AZORIAN:The Raising of The K-129.
While in St. Petersburg, I visited the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery and was surprised to see a man wearing a submarine badge on his chest. When I approached him, I could see it was not the badge I was looking for. As I got closer, I could recognize what looked like the Russian Imperial double headed eagle emblem on the badge. He was middle aged, it obviously wasn't originally his so I stopped him and offered to buy it. I was surprised when he accepted. Not having a common language, I somehow received the impression it had belonged to a deceased relative. It was hard times, he wanted US dollars and he settled for $10. I later found some Soviet submarine badges at a flea market in Moscow.
Afterwards, I never gave the badge much thought. I just assumed it was what it appeared to be, a Russian Imperial Submarine badge and it put it with other stuff I had collected over the years. Recently, as the years accumulate, I've been organizing memorabilia, including my Air Crew wings, Korean war blood chit, flight records etc. I decided to research the badge and found it doesn't exist! The only Imperial submarine badge that I could find searching the web is the 1909 Imperial Russian Officer's Submarine Graduation badge, which looks nothing like my badge. I even purchased Prichard's book, seeing it referenced a number of times. No such badge in his book or many web collections I've viewed. As for the badge, It is well made and very nicely detailed, the masts and guns (barrel and Breech) are not attached. The shaft and screw are also separately formed. It is obviously not cliché (a term I learned from Prichard's book) and appears to be a very fine solid lost wax casting. I tested a scratch on the back with nitric acid and it seems to be a low silver copper base alloy. I'm now very intrigued by the mystery. I'm attaching photos and hope you can provide some information about it. It seems too good to be a fake. Why would anyone go to such an effort to fabricate a badge that doesn't seem to exist. Anyone have any information on this badge?
I'm not sure I'm posting images correctly. I hope they show up.
Comment