Juncker U-Boat Timeline

[Norm F]

I created a Juncker U-Boat timeline classification system similar in concept to the Schwerin U-Boat timeline and received some useful input from Gordon Williamson and others. I thought I'd port it over here for easy reference for WAF members.

C.E. Juncker had one of the most impressive U-Boat badge designs of all manufacturers. They're always unmarked but as discussed in various other threads, the attribution to Juncker is quite strong based upon eagle style, hardware and finishing techniques compared with other Juncker products.

A few years ago here on WAF, Robert Pierce described two types of Juncker Tombak U-boats, so-called “1st and 2nd pattern”, based on his observations on the different eagle head margins and the round-wire vs. flat-wire catch. This broke ground on the discussion, but the term “pattern” wasn’t ideal since they both had identical obverse characteristics. I’ve incorporated those 2 variations as Type 1 and Type 2 and extended the classification with two further types and also variants within each category.

In the next postings I’ll present the classification and then show examples. My apologies in advance for borrowing the images of various examples posted on the forums over the years - these are incorporated into the compilations in the interest of “fair use” for educational purposes.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

The Classification Table

Type 1: Tombak only, variable hand trimming of margins

1.1: straight wide-pin setup, short tube hinge, round-wire catch

1.1.1 solid swastika

1.1.2: same as 1.1.1 but with cut-out swastika and cannon (a variation of hand finishing)

1.2: coke bottle-shaped pin setup, short tube hinge, round-wire catch

1.2.1 – solid swastika

1.2.2 - same as 1.2.1 but with cut-out swastika and cannon (a variation of hand finishing)

1.3: screwback setup

Type 2: Tombak or zinc, consistent machine stamped margins

2.1: Tombak, coke bottle-shaped pin, prone flipped block hinge, dome-head hinge pin, flat-wire C-shaped catch

2.2: same obverse as 2.1 but in zinc, prone flipped block hinge on a cutoff oval base plate, headless hinge pin, flat-wire catch on a round base plate; (rare)

Type 3: Tombak or zinc, same obverse as Type 2 but with a prominent flaw in the U-boat hull on the left

3.1: Tombak, prone flipped block hinge, headless hinge pin, flat-wire C-shaped catch

3.2: zinc, same obverse and flaw as 3.1, straight wide-pin setup; (rare)

Type 4: zinc only, new obverse with different rudder shape and absent leaf tip above the stern

4.1: typical Juncker zinc setup with short barrel hinge, coke bottle-shaped pin and flat-wire catch

4.2: variant hardware - EK1-type block hinge

[Norm F]

Type 1.1

Type 1: Tombak only, variable hand trimming of margins

1.1: straight wide-pin setup, short tube hinge, round-wire catch

1.1.1 solid swastika

1.1.2: same as 1.1.1 but with cut-out swastika and cannon (a variation of hand finishing)

The Type 1 is presumed to be the earliest category, and is further sub-divided (little pun there) according to the reverse hardware. Unlike the “later” Tombak badges, the cutout under the sub shows considerable variation from example to example as a result of a laborious hand-trimming process. Likewise there are variations in the eagle head margins, the trimming around the gun and arms of the swastika within this category.

The Type 1 is easily spotted by these trimming features as well as the consistent use of a round-wire catch.

Type 1.1 uses a straight, wide main pin and is found with both solid and cut-out swastika as seen here.

[Norm F]

Type 1.2

Type 1: Tombak only, variable hand trimming of margins

1.2: coke bottle-shaped pin setup, short tube hinge, round-wire catch

1.2.1 – solid swastika

1.2.2 - same as 1.2.1 but with cut-out swastika and cannon (a variation of hand finishing)

Type 1.2 uses the coke bottle-shaped pin and likewise is found in both solid and cut-out swastika versions.

[Norm F]

Interestingly, both the Type 1.1 and Type 1.2 hardware variations can be found on the L/12 marked Juncker EK1 Clasps. (Both of these posted previously on WAF - top one is Mark Miller's I believe). Like the U-Boats, they have the same simple short tube hinge soldered directly to the badge.

[Norm F]

Type 1.3

Type 1: Tombak only, variable hand trimming of margins

1.3: screwback setup

I’ve seen only one posting of the rare screwback setup variant (1.3), and that was this image posted by Gordon Williamson a couple of years ago, at which time he showed the same type of fitting on a Juncker Luftwaffe badge as well. The same fitting is also apparent on this L/12 marked EK1 previously posted on WAF in the Cross section.

This example has the hand cut-out swastika and cannon

[Norm F]

Type 2.1

Type 2: Tombak or zinc, consistent machine stamped margins

2.1: Tombak, coke bottle-shaped pin, prone flipped block hinge, dome-head hinge pin, flat-wire C-shaped catch

For Type 2, instead of the laborious hand finishing, Juncker used a trimming stamp to produce the cutouts and margins which is therefore consistent between examples. This would be less labor intensive while providing uniform quality.

Type 2.1 is easily recognized from the reverse by the round contour of the eagle’s head, the consistent cutouts and the dome-head hinge pin.

[Norm F]

Type 2.2

Type 2: Tombak or zinc, consistent machine stamped margins

2.2: same obverse as 2.1 but in zinc, prone flipped block hinge on a cutoff oval base plate, headless hinge pin, flat-wire catch on a round base plate; (rare)

The zinc version of this same obverse design is rare and I could find only one example on the net until Giel posted a pristine second example here. Giel's example showed the same prone block hinge used on Tombak Types 2.1 and 3.1 but mounted on a cutoff oval base plate for better adherence to zinc. Notice that the oval base plate is the same used by Juncker on their L/12 marked Cupal wound badges (this gold grade example previously posted by Hans N) -- another connection of this U-Boat design to Juncker as noted by Giel.

The other example appears to have a reattached short barrel hinge so it's hard to say what was there originally.

[Norm F]

Type 3.1

Type 3: Tombak or zinc, same obverse as Type 2 but with a prominent flaw in the U-boat hull on the left

3.1: Tombak, prone flipped block hinge, headless hinge pin, flat-wire C-shaped catch

The Type 3 is unmistakable due to the prominent gouge-like flaw in the bow of the U-Boat. The obverse looks identical to Type 2 in all other respects, so that one might suspect there was damage to the Type 2 die. This could explain why the zinc version of the unflawed Type 2 is vanishingly rare. On the other hand, a deep “negative” flaw like this suggests a prominent “positive” defect in the production die, and it’s hard to imagine how a defect like that could be acquired over time. Possibly, it is instead a separate, flawed sister die to the Type 2.

The hinge pin on the Tombak version 3.1 is consistently headless in contrast to the dome-head hinge pin on Type 2.1.

[Norm F]

Type 3.2

Type 3: Tombak or zinc, same obverse as Type 2 but with a prominent flaw in the U-boat hull on the left

3.2: zinc, same obverse and flaw as 3.1, straight wide-pin setup; (rare)

The rare zinc version 3.2 is from this same flawed die, and interestingly has a straight main pin reminiscent of the Type 1.1 (although combined with a flanged barrel hinge typical for Juncker's zincers). The example shown here has had the flag broken off.

[Norm F]

Type 4.1

Type 4: zinc only, new obverse with different rudder shape and absent leaf tip above the stern

4.1: typical Juncker zinc setup with short barrel hinge, coke bottle-shaped pin and flat-wire catch

The Type 4 is exclusive to zinc production and is the more commonly found obverse among the zinc versions. One can speculate that the flawed die of the Type 3 ultimately had to be replaced by the Type 4.

Besides the absence of the flaw, this type is easily identified by the missing laurel leaf tip above the U-boat on the right. As well, the rudder is a slightly different shape than that seen in Types 1 to 3 (see comparison detail).

[Norm F]

Type 4.2

Type 4: zinc only, new obverse with different rudder shape and absent leaf tip above the stern

4.2: variant hardware - EK1-type block hinge

Type 4.2 is the same obverse as 4.1 but with a variant reverse setup using hardware similar to the Juncker EK1 marked L/12 shown below.

[Norm F]

Wrap-up

So there you have it. Four basic types and various subtypes, so that the obsessive collector has at least 11 variants of the Juncker U-boat badge to search for!

Although it adds up to a lot of minor variants, it's possible they all boil down to just 2 working dies -- the first one with the laurel leaf tip which somehow acquired the large U-boat flaw in the late Tombak/early zinc era, and the second one without the laurel leaf tip used only for later zinc production. The sub-types relate mainly to variations in trimming methods and reverse hardware, not unlike the many variations of Schwerin's U-Boat badge.

I'm pretty sure the 4 major categories in this system (Types 1,2,3 and 4) are in correct chronological order. However, the the sub-variants of Type 1, which are based on hardware, could very well have been made in a different order, especially when you consider that Robert Pierce's Type 1.2 with the short tube hinge and coke bottle-shaped pin is made with a very thick planchet whereas Gordon had a Type 1.1 with the straight pin which was from a much thinner planchet. Logic might suggest the thick Tombak planchet would pre-date the thinner planchet.

As well, you can see these two early 1st pattern EK1 clasps (previously posted by Gordon) show a coke bottle-shaped pin associated with an "earlier" round-wire clasp and a straight wide pin associated with a "later" flat-wire clasp. And despite the fact that the straight pin of the 1.1 appears on Juncker's early 1st Pattern EK1 Spange, it also appeared on the later flawed zinc U-Boat Type 3.2 so that hardware doesn't necessarily indicate early production. Similarly, the extraordinarily rare screwback could have been the earliest type of all for all we know.

And finally, the block hinge zincer 4.2 could very well pre-date the more usual setup on 4.1.

But although the minor subtypes could have been produced in different orders, at least I'm comfortable with the chronology of the 4 basic categories.

Best regards,
---Norm

[JAndrew]

Many thanks to Norm and other contributors to this project.

Norm, you have done so much to contribute to our understanding of these badges over the years that sometimes I and perhaps some others take your hard work for granted. But it is that hard work and the free sharing of information as well as civil discussion from you and the other main contributors to this forum that has gotten me more and more interested in the KM side of collecting.

Thank you.
JAndrew

[JAndrew]

In this photo of Andy's badge am I seeing a die flaw at the stern as well? It would appear that this die is starting to have some serious issues, is that why we get a new die for the type 4?

JAndrew