New Schwerin Sweeper

[Dave Wyatt]

I normally don't post items I buy off the e-stand since most of you have seen them anyway, but since I'm quitting smoking I've been trying to do things that will keep my mind busy. Enjoy the pics!

Nice Brass Schwerin Minesweeper with a lacquer coating.

[Dave Wyatt]

pin up

[Norm F]

Hi Wyatt1939,

Nice Schwerin with the dome-head hinge pin on the left, type 1.1.2 in the Classification Table.

Here's another.

Best regards,
---Norm

[BubbaZ]

Beautiful tombak schwerin Minesweeper, nice catch
This variation with the dome-head hinge pin on the left is less common than one with with the dome-head hinge pin on the right (my example enclosed).
Cheers,
Hubert

[Dave Wyatt]

Thanks for the info guys. I don't have any kreigsmarine books so these little details are all new to me. Any thoughts as to whether the domed head rivet installed from the left side could be due to the fact that the worker could have been left handed? Lefty's we all know aren't as common as right handed. Just a thought....

[Norm F]

Thanks for the info guys. I don't have any kreigsmarine books so these little details are all new to me. Any thoughts as to whether the domed head rivet installed from the left side could be due to the fact that the worker could have been left handed? Lefty's we all know aren't as common as right handed. Just a thought....

Hi Wyatt1939,

Yes that's possible, but variation 1.1.1 which has a different maker mark with a more aligned font and dots before "Berlin" (see attached) is the earliest variant and always has the dome head hinge pin on the left, so the "handedness" of the employee made no difference there, whereas the later maker mark variants have it on the right almost exclusively. That's why it was postulated these ones with the later maker mark but left-sided hinge pin may have been an intermediate production.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Dave Wyatt]

Hi Wyatt1939,

Yes that's possible, but variation 1.1.1 which has a different maker mark with a more aligned font and dots before "Berlin" (see attached) is the earliest variant and always has the dome head hinge pin on the left, so the "handedness" of the employee made no difference there, whereas the later maker mark variants have it on the right almost exclusively. That's why it was postulated these ones with the later maker mark but left-sided hinge pin may have been an intermediate production.

Best regards,
---Norm

Gotcha, I understand now. Is this data included in the new Kreigsmarine books? I'm looking into buying the book set now that I'm moving into kreigsmarine a little.

Regards,
Dave Wyatt

[Norm F]

Gotcha, I understand now. Is this data included in the new Kreigsmarine books? I'm looking into buying the book set now that I'm moving into kreigsmarine a little.

Regards,
Dave Wyatt

Hi Dave,

Well, there are 21 known wartime Minesweeper manufacturers and over 85 variants of the Minesweeper badge alone, so although all the makers are covered, not all the variants appear in any single publication. But the 2-volume set "The Kriegsmarine Awards" although not complete, is an excellent compendium of the major variants and the most comprehensive to date, and it will be even better when combined with the upcoming Addendum which will be published separately in the next year or so.

There will always be newer discoveries and new lines of thought that are to be found only in the forums since this is a dynamic and evolving field. Sort of analogous to the difference between discussions among researchers in University and leafing through a standard text.

Best regards,
---Norm

[BubbaZ]

I agree with Norm, English edition of "The Kriegsmarine Awards" is the most complete at the moment. If we want to include all Minesweepers variants in a single book it would probably be the size of Thomas Durante's Para Book.
But maybe this is not a bad idea - 10 years after the first publication? We know that Sacsha Weber loves minesweepers
Cheers,
Hubert