S-Boat War Badge with Diamonds

[Sepp45]

Hi guys! This is the special badge of Korvettenkapitän Werner Töniges, on December 16th, 1942.

The photos were sent by a collector in Germany.

All opinions are welcome!

[Sepp45]

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[Norm F]

Hi Sepp,

Thanks for posting. Too bad there's no photo of the reverse. We have very little for reference, but the swastika on that one with those brilliant-cut stones set in a flat background is not what I would expect for a period awarded piece. That looks more like a standard Schwerin 2nd pattern badge with the swastika cut out and replaced?

At least it's not the Töniges badge published by Nimmergut in Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen, 2001. Nimmergut showed both obverse and reverse, and the obverse was the same photo that was published by Klietmann some decades previously. The attached images were described as being the Werner Töniges badge awarded January, 1943 and photographed April 16, 1958.

The swastika construction on this one is very consistent with what we see on the Schwerin U-Boat with diamonds, namely, stones set within four prongs and pearled ornamentation of the margins, and the whole thing applied atop of a cutout swastika base that is part of the planchet.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

The famous photo of Töniges wearing his Oakleaves and his S-Boat badge with diamonds.

[Sepp45]

Norm, as always, it's a pleasure to read your analysis about these rare badges.

Thanks a lot for posting the 1958 pics of Töniges piece.

[Yubari]

Everything with diamonds is stunning. Cannot speak about authenticity but looks badass !

[Norm F]

Since we're on the topic, I'll post the images of two more examples considered to be wartime although without known provenance as far as I know.

The first is the one pictured in the ullstein-bild archives. Their website gives only an estimated (and incorrect) date of 1941 but the construction and wear look convincing. I also have on record slightly blurry photos of the same badge, obverse and reverse, that seem to be from the same photo shoot if not the very same photo just reproduced poorly.

Despite the different reverse setup and minor differences in the hand-cut margins, this badge appears identical in construction to the Töniges badge photographed in 1958 and published by Klietmann/Nimmergut.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

The second example of the "Type 2" setup is the one depicted in Gordon Williamson's "War Badges of the Kriegsmarine" and credited to Wolfe-Hardin. Again no firm provenance is provided, but the construction is identical to the others, and compatible in production technique with the Schwerin U-Boat Badge with Diamonds.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Here are comparisons of the Wolfe-Hardin S-Boat to Carl Emmermann's 1943 awarded 2nd pattern U-Boat badge with Diamonds, also made by Schwerin, illustrating the similarities in the diamond swastika construction and reverse setup.

[Norm F]

And just to review, here are the eight S-Boat commanders who were receivers of the Oak Leaves and therefore theoretically eligible to have received the S-Boat with Diamonds from Admiral Raeder. According to Klietmann (1989), four of them are known to have received the S-Boat with Diamonds, and one additional one (Kemnade) according to Patzwall (1987) as indicated below:

1942
1) Korvettenkapitän Werner Töniges - OL November 13, 1942 as Kapitänleutnant (S-Boat with Diamonds January 1943)

1943
2) Oberleutnant zur See Siegfried Wuppermann - OL April 14, 1943 as Oberleutnant (S-Boat with Diamonds June 10 or July 10, 1943)
3) Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Kemnade - OL May 27, 1943 as Korvettenkapitän (no known S-Boat with Diamonds according to Klietmann but yes according to Patzwall)
4) Korvettenkapitän Georg Christiansen - OL November 13, 1943 as Korvettenkapitän (no known S-Boat with Diamonds)

1944
5) Korvettenkapitän Bernd Klug - OL January 1, 1944 as Korvettenkapitän (S-Boat with Diamonds January 15, 1944)
6) Korvettenkapitän Klaus Feldt - OL January 1, 1944 as Korvettenkapitän (S-Boat with Diamonds January 16, 1944)
7) Kapitän zur See Rudolf Petersen - OL June 13, 1944 as Kapitän zur See (no known S-Boat with Diamonds)
8) Kapitänleutnant Götz Freiherr von Mirbach - OL June 14, 1944 as Kapitänleutnant (no known S-Boat with Diamonds)

Best regards,
---Norm

[Jeff V]

Not original IMO. We can clearly see on the original posters badge that the original swastika was sawed off with a jewelers saw and a homemade swastika was then attached with the diamonds. The arms of this new swastika are also hand cut with jewelers saw, the cuts not being perfectly straight. Anyway, Norm's pictures are great and show the differences between this badge and the accepted types.

[Norm F]

There's a remarkable grouping on the latest Andreas Thies upcoming auction on December 14 which includes the S-Boat in Diamonds attributed to Korvettenkapitän Klaus Feldt. The badge is the typical Schwerin, like the Töniges badge, but has the "Type 2" reverse setup with the block hinge mounted prone. It looks correct in every way.

The description and background info imply that all 8 oak leaves recipients were confirmed by their research to have received the S-Boat in Diamonds, which is different from Klietmann/Patzwall/Nimmergut who collectively only claim to confirm 5 of the 8. Mind you, a little later in the description, Thies acknowledges that Petersen did not confirm his badge in correspondance with Klietmann.

At any rate, this is the fourth original to be posted to date and only the second one with attribution. So far we have seen:
1) Werner Töniges badge, published by both Klietmann and Nimmergut
2) The unattributed example depicted in ullstein-bild archival photos
3) The unattributed example in the Wolfe-Hardin collection which was also shown in Gordon Williamson's book.
4) This one attributed to Klaus Feldt.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

Few more photos from the Feldt grouping.

[Giel VW]

Amazing piece

[Ludwig]

Excellent badges shown here!