Does anyone know what this uniform is?

arjay

arjay

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Does anyone recognize this uniform?
It belonged to one of my cousin's grandfathers,but she doesn't know anything about it (nor do I )
79ce46e4683d3d54e021434fd7ff4e00.jpg
 
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US Navy dress blues.
The upper patch with the eagle designates the sailors rank (3 chevrons) as First Class Petty Officer and the round symbol above the chevrons show his rate as an Electricians Mate. He was a First Class Electricians Mate, or an EM1.
The four stripes on the lower sleeve shows he has completed at least 16 years of service. (4 years per stripe)
The fact the chevrons and service stripes are gold means those 16 years of service were completed with 4 Good Conduct Awards. These awards are issued every 4 years if the sailor has a "clean record".
A sailor with less than 16 years of service will wear red chevrons and service stripes.
 
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Thanks! Is it possible to determine the era (they would have been born in the 1890s) by the uniform or did it stay the same through the two world wars?
 
arjay said:
Thanks! Is it possible to determine the era (they would have been born in the 1890s) by the uniform or did it stay the same through the two world wars?
Click to expand...

The Electricians Mate rating was established in 1921 so the uniform could date back to then, but the uniform itself could date back to the turn of the century.

A correction about the service stripes....the gold stripes were worn after 12 years of good conduct service, not 16 years.
 
MTC(SS)Ret said:
US Navy dress blues.
The upper patch with the eagle designates the sailors rank (3 chevrons) as First Class Petty Officer and the round symbol above the chevrons show his rate as an Electricians Mate. He was a First Class Electricians Mate, or an EM1.
The four stripes on the lower sleeve shows he has completed at least 16 years of service. (4 years per stripe)
The fact the chevrons and service stripes are gold means those 16 years of service were completed with 4 Good Conduct Awards. These awards are issued every 4 years if the sailor has a "clean record".
A sailor with less than 16 years of service will wear red chevrons and service stripes.
Click to expand...

Perfect, although I seem to remember that his RATE would be First Class Petty Officer (E-6) and his RATING would be Electrician's Mate. That (my service) was in the 1960s.

We never used the term "rank" for enlisted personnel.
 
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Flip up the flap, should be a tag with maybe a date. Check inside for tags also. The Eagle is facing left so WWII or after as before WWII eagle faced right. Nazi bird faced right so USN changed. Unless ID'ed , WWI-WWII dated and with documentation Navy uniforms are not " valuable". Since a family member's hopefully someone in the family will want it.
 
Greyman50 said:
Flip up the flap, should be a tag with maybe a date. Check inside for tags also. The Eagle is facing left so WWII or after as before WWII eagle faced right. Nazi bird faced right so USN changed. Unless ID'ed , WWI-WWII dated and with documentation Navy uniforms are not " valuable". Since a family member's hopefully someone in the family will want it.
Click to expand...

From 1885 to 1894, the Navy recognized three classes of petty officers who were authorized to wear a "rate" (rank) insignia consisting of chevrons pointing down under a spread eagle and a rating mark.[10] Unlike the current rate badge, the eagle faced right instead of left.[6] The current insignia for petty officers came about in 1894, and is a perched eagle with spread wings (usually referred to as a "crow," due to its black color on white uniforms and the former light blue working uniforms) above a rating mark, with chevrons denoting their rate below.[6] Initially, the eagle faced left or right on the rating emblem depending on which sleeve the badge was worn. "Seafarer" rates, such as boatswain or gunner, are unique to service aboard a ship, and were worn on the right sleeve; the eagle on these insignia faced right, so that they would be facing forward on the wearer. Other rates, such as administration or medical positions, were worn on the left sleeve, so the eagle on those insignia faced left, so that they would be facing forward on the wearer. In 1948, the Navy standardized all ratings to be worn on the left sleeve.
 
arjay said:
I doubt she will sell it. One of her grandfathers would have been my great uncle who was sent away from the old country in the 19 teens or early 20s. I'm trying to guess whether it was his or not. He's one of those mystery relatives that was never spoken about lol
(And I'm nosy!)
Click to expand...

Oh, I didn't mean she should sell it, but it's good to have an idea of value so it doesn't maybe just get thrown away by her heirs at some time in the future.

Those things do happen.

I think MTC (SS) has answered your age question, but researching e-Bay might reveal something.

Good luck (being nosy).

:D
 
Greyman50 said:
The Eagle is facing left so WWII or after as before WWII eagle faced right. Nazi bird faced right so USN changed.
Click to expand...

Not quite.

Petty officers were distinguished by a rating badge worn on the upper arm. It consisted of an eagle, a specialty mark, and chevrons indicating the grade of rank. Petty officers of the Seaman Branch wore the badge on the right sleeve, all other branches wore it on the left. In the Uniform Regulations of 1941 it was directed that the eagle's head always face forward, so on left-arm rating badges the eagle faces the viewer's left, and vice versa for right-arm rating badges.
Click to expand...
 
I seem to recall my crow being on the left since I was in communications.

I remember it because on the day you became a petty officer your friends all "tacked on" your crow by punching it (with great enthusiasm).

My arm was sore for a week or maybe two.

:)
 
Der Verminator said:
I seem to recall my crow being on the left since I was in communications.

I remember it because on the day you became a petty officer your friends all "tacked on" your crow by punching it (with great enthusiasm).

My arm was sore for a week or maybe two.

:)
Click to expand...
Back in the day when a submariner earned his "dolphins" for completing submarine qualification, he would get his dolphins "tacked on" to his uniform above the left chest pocket....and they usually removed the clasps that covered up the two sharp pins that protruded through the shirt.
 
My statement regarding the " crow" was a general one regarding Navy rates. I collected US Army and USMC for over 40 years, never Navy.
OP, did you find a tag with a date?
 
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