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 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. The example shown above is a Schwerin manufactured piece.

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.

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The U-Boat War Badge was also produced as a lapel pin miniature for wear on civilian clothing. Two sizes were produced of most of these miniatures, as shown here.

More often than not, the U-Boat War Badge was issued in a simple paper envelope with the title of the award printed in black. This is an original Schwerin issue envelope and has the firms name printed in the lower left reverse corner.

 

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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.

This maker's badges were fairly typical from the obverse, with shield shaped chest to the eagle and solid swastika. The reverse however shows this firms very distinctive pin and hinge fitting. The the pin had a flattened portion to and bottom, but rounded in the centre and has the firm's LDO number L/21 stamped into the lower flattened portion.

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 Morgeon 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 opinionis 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..

Despite Deumer having a good reputation for fine quality badges, it must be said that their U-Boat War Badge is not one of the best that will be found. Struck from Zinc, it has a separately applied hinge, horizontal needle pin and a retaining clip made from flat wire stock. It features the wider, shield shaped chest to the eagle and a solid unsegmented swastika. The maker code of "3" within a cartouche is stamped lightly onto the reverse centre of the U-Boat. The reverse shot above has been considerably lightened in an effort to make the mark clear but it is still only barely visible.

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.

Note the similarity of this maker's badge with the type produced by Wilhelm Deumer. The only significant difference being the better quality pin fitting used by Gläser. The maker mark 53 within a cartouche is stamped to the reverse centre of the submarine.

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Hymmen & Co

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, 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 incused L/53 mark at the 3 o-clock position on the reverse.

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B H Mayer, Pforzheim

 

This firm used the generic style with 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.

 

 

 

Zinc version of the Mayer badge, more comonly encountered than the Tombak version.

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.

The Friedrich Orth firm also produced a variant of the badge with a segmented swastika as shown here. Otherwise the badge is the same as the standard type. It is assumed this was an "additional-cost" extra available on badges which were privately purchased as opposed to issued.

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 pin bearing the manufacturers code "65" on its outer face.

The Souval U-Boat Badge was die struck in Zinc and features the manufacturer's initials in large relief letters on the reverse of the submarine. Pin and hinge fittings are separate items soldered to the reverse face.

Badges produced by the Wernstein firm have a distinctive style of hinge and invariably 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.

This firms pieces were of fairly typical appearance - shield shaped chest to the eagle and solid swastika. The pin fittings used were of high quality, and typical of this firm, carried the manufacturers number "100" stamped on the inner face of the pin.

 

 

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The Zimmermann badge is one of the most attractive of all U-Boat Badge designs. Die struck in Tombak, it features a well sculpted eagle and segmented swastika. The reverse normally features a wide flat pin, which may occasionally carry the firms LDO code L/52. Occasionally, examples with a needle pin will be encountered. This design variant is much scarcer than the flat pin version.

Though many collectors prefer maker marked badges, some of the finest examples in circulation are unmarked and their manufacturers may never be known. The example above is such a piece, totally unmarked but in near mint condition with fine gilding and a top quality separately applied hinge/pin fitting. The striking is very thin, unlike some of the chunkier strikings found with some makers.

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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. The molds 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 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.