Unknown WW1 or WW2 German Navy cloth badge

[militaria0815]

I have got this badge together w a medal bar. Has anybody an idea what it was for?

Thanks for help!

[militaria0815]

Backside.

[Guest Rick Research]

Imperial navy Zahlmeister Applikant-- which your Rudolf Grossmann would have been in 1902 when he was off the coast of Venezuela.

Here is my paymaster B?ning as an OBERapplikant (crown over the anchor)

[Guest Rick Research]

Some white summer tunic Engineer cadet ranks:

The borders distinguished these young men as Officer Candidates in the long years before they were commissioned, as compared with regular Petty Officers.

[Laurence Strong]

Would that badge be clipped onto his uniform or sewn? The clips bring to mind a Watch Officers badge. Just my .02 cents worth.

[Guest Rick Research]

Left sleeve rating only. For ease of laundering, sneaky fellow.

[Laurence Strong]

Thanks

[Chip]

Rick,

Have you noticed that nearly all of the blue on white cadet patches that have shown up are machinist related? Somebody must have found a bunch of them about twenty years ago. That's when I got mine and saw others for sale. I just wish I had had the foresight to have gotten them all at the time. I just settled for the one Obermaschinistenapplikant example. Would the three patches you show above be, Maschinistenapplikant, Maschinistenmaatapplikant and Obermaschinistenapplikant?

Chip

[Guest Rick Research]

Oberanw?rter (I think--device in oval being same as a Gefreiter), Applikant(like a Maat) and Oberapplikant (like an Obermaat), with their branch attached to those ranks.

Yeah, I've had these 20-25 years. they were dementedly expensive then, which is why I got them one at a time over some years from different places. The prices have remained clinically insane ever since, and I swear every such patch currently on offer in Germany has been for sale from the same dealers alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll this time.

Paymaster related, here is B?ning as Marine Zahlmeister Oberanw?rter, 1910-11: it is a "daisy" like rosette in the border, but yellow doesn't show well on dark blue in these old photos:

The insignia next to it for comparison in living color is Andr? H?sken's--and has been I swear for at least 15 years. At ? 140 it will never be mine and will be his heirs' until the end of time. I just cannot see that there is any DEMAND for any of the Imperial insignia at such grotesque prices.

[militaria0815]

Rick, thousand times thank you!!! The B?ning group is fantastic!