Super RARE U.S. NAVY Gravity Knife

[vonStubben]

I got a call last week from a friend who's friend had some "military" knives to sell for the widow of his best friend (got that?). I made arrangements with him to see what he had and when we came to terms I bought them all. Once I got home I began to research one of the knives that I had never seen before. I tried searching the web for information and couldn't find any. Finally after a couple of hours of using different search patterns I found a couple of references to it. It turns out to be a very rare gravity knife used by the U.S. Navy in very limited numbers and never officially adopted. From what little I still know about it, it was supposed to have been used during the Spanish American War, circa 1898. The knife is made of nickled steel and brass with chipped deer horn slabs. The knife has a blunt tipped blade which is hollow ground like a straight razor and has "U.S. NAVY" etched onto the blade. It was made by "Miller Bros." who were in business from 1872 to 1926. The knife also has a brass lanyard ring built into it along with it's original lanyard (also very rare). From further research and contact with the owner of a monthly knife collectors magazine, and author of an 18 page article written about these knives, I have learned that the lanyard itself is just as rare as the knife. The lanyard was a private purchase item from Bannerman's around the turn of the century when they cost .15 cents each.

Anyway, I have ordered the back issue of the knife magazine with the 18 page article on these knives so I can learn more about them. In the mean time I thought I would share it with the forum and see if there are any more out there.

Regards,

Chuck

[vonStubben]

blade extended

[vonStubben]

Etched US NAVY

[vonStubben]

manufacturers mark, "Miller Bros"

[zachb]

Thanks Chuck, never seen one of those before. The US Navy did use "Jack Knives" with square points (see Cole vol. 3), but I haven't heard of this type, congratulations. Very unique find, thanks again for posting it. By the way, is this a lock blade, i.e., the "button" on the top, how does it function. Zach

[vonStubben]

Thanks Chuck, never seen one of those before. The US Navy did use "Jack Knives" with square points (see Cole vol. 3), but I haven't heard of this type, congratulations. Very unique find, thanks again for posting it. By the way, is this a lock blade, i.e., the "button" on the top, how does it function. Zach

I had never seen one either, neither had any of my friends. From the information provided me so far it is discussed briefly in both Peterson’s American Knives and in Rankin’s Small Arms of the Sea Services. There is also a sketch of it in one of the Cole books from what I have been told. I will post the scan of that sketch which was provided by another friend.

The top of the blade is beveled and the way the knife works is by pressing the top switch down allowing the blade to follow the grooved top guide. At about the ricasso this top beveled edge ends and returns to the regular thickness of the width of the blade and this abruptly stops the blades forward motion. The switch itself then drops slightly behind the end of the blade and remains fixed until you again push the switch and allow the blade to fall back inside the handle. It's a interesting concept but it does have a flaw and in my opinion is probably why the knife was not officially adopted.

Through much use the blade guide loosens (I believe it is pinned or bolstered through both halves of the side slabs which lie beneath the nickle throat), which is only 1/4" long and butts up against the back spring/switch, once this happens the knife blade tends to fall out of the handle unless pressure is kept on the 1/4" guide by the operators thumb (I hope this all makes sense).

[vonStubben]

sketch

[vonStubben]

Here is the piece broken down. You can see the top beveled edge and how it ends. You can also see the notch towards the tip which keeps the blade in place when not in use.

[vonStubben]

This photo shows where the guide ends up against the back spring which I believe is pinned through and through, beneath the nickle throat caps.

[Ed Sunday]

When I was little I dealt and repaired collectible pocket knives and traveled the circuit. I can't ever recall seeing one like this and I've seen alot of stuff over time. Wow that is neat and a great piece of history !

[zachb]

Chuck,

Thank you for the further pictures and information. Your description about the mechanism makes perfect sense. Again, really nice find.

[vonStubben]

I received the July 2006 Knife World article on these knives. The Miller Bros. company of Meriden, CT was actually founded in 1863 and dropped their line of knives in 1926, finally closing their doors in 1943. They made a smaller civilian version of their gravity knife during the same time period of their Navy knife which they called a hunting dirk begining about 1884. The "dirk" type had a clip point blade and was an inch shorter and a bit slimmer with ebony handles.

Evidently this Navy version is one of the hardest to find of all US military knives. The last one known to sell at auction brought $2,300.00 in 1999.

Chuck

[zachb]

Chuck, thanks for the update and congratulations on a great find.

[GiuseppeC]

Hi Chuck:

Talk about dredging up an old topic! I have one of these knives, but mine has a different style thumb switch, and a different lanyard ring (mine hooks into the sides through the scales). I also have the 2006 issue of Knife World, but I can't remember if it made any mention that there was more than one model of these, or if one was perhaps a 1st gen prototype.

I'll try to get some pictures posted here, in the next couple of days. Condition-wise, yours is in much better shape than mine, but either way, these are spectacularly rare knives. I posted mine on a knife forum when I first got it, and my email inbox exploded with offers to buy it...

Best,

Andre

Edit: My pictures from the knife forum are still up: