Navy hat and dagger pommel with D Anchor S

[Vic Diehl]

I poated this in the Kriegsmarine section and Rick suggested I may get quicker information from you scholars.

Rick is thinking Deutsch Seeamt or Seewarte. A researcher in Germany says regional Pilot Boat crew member in a large German Harbor or an employee of a large German Shipping company.

I appreciate any help. Dagger is all steel, shows typical wear, has celluloid grip.

[Vic Diehl]

dagger

[Guest Rick Research]

Add one more possibility-- the

Deutsche Seemannsschule in Hamburg, which fits for location. I'm not sure if that was THE "official" Merchant Marine Academy or a private school.

Any visible "rank" badges will clarify things.

[Flyingdutchman]

Add one more possibility-- the

Deutsche Seemannsschule in Hamburg, which fits for location. I'm not sure if that was THE "official" Merchant Marine Academy or a private school.

Any visible "rank" badges will clarify things.

Gentlemen,

I have contacted the Deutsche Seemannsschule. It is nowadays a foundation.

Unfortunately they claimed that neither the cadet/officer on the photo nor the dagger had something to do with the Deutsche Seemannsschule. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Best;

Flyingdutchman

[KeithB]

Rick is thinking Deutsch Seeamt or Seewarte. A researcher in Germany says regional Pilot Boat crew member in a large German Harbor or an employee of a large German Shipping company.

Hello. I have a cigarette card book (not the most scientific source) from 1932 called Reedereiflaggen der Welthandelsflotte or House flags of the world trade fleet and I thought this might be my only chance in life to use this book for something useful.

The book lists 126 different German shipping companies and 396 international shipping companies and shows their flags. By the time this book was made, there was not a German shipping company with the initials DS in their names. DS often appears in the names of companies as Dampfschiffsreederei or Steam ship shipping company, but those letters alone on a dagger would make no sense. The closest I could come to matching DS were company names starting with S. These would be "Seefahrt" Dampfschiffreederei and Stettiner Dampschiffs-Gesellsch.

The only company I could find in the entire book with the initials "DS" was the Greek company D.A. Stathos S. S. Co. of Athens which did operate in German waters. Their flag, however, only showed the letter S, not DS.

So the initials are either for a company that went out of business before 1932, or they are not the initials of a large German shipping company.

Not much help, but it is something.

Edited July 20, 2006 by KeithB

[Vic Diehl]

Keith:

I appreciate your sincere response. At this stage of research all information is welcome and to be considered. We continue to look at shipping companies as well as harbor pilots, and training schools both for private and municipal as well as regional based corporations and operations.

Thanks again,