Steinhauer & Lück U-Boat Timeline

[Norm F]

Type 2.2

2.2: “Deumer-like” setup with slender stamped sheet metal catch, small block hinge and round-wire main pin

Type 2.2 has the same catch as 1.4 and 2.1, but now is combined with a short block hinge and wrap-around round wire pin reminiscent of the setup used by Deumer on some badges.

[Norm F]

Hardware comparison

Here you see the same hinge and pin used on the S&L silver wound badge. This is followed by a compilation of examples of the slender (easily deformed) stamped sheet metal catch used by S&L on a variety of zinc badges.

[Norm F]

Type 2.3

2.3: flat-wire catch, short barrel hinge with long tapered wide pin

For Type 2.3 we now migrate to the generic later-war flat-wire catch, initially combined with the same long tapered pin seen in Types 1.4 and in Type 2.1. This is a common pin type and was also used by S&L on a variety of other war badges.

[Norm F]

Hardware comparion

Although this setup is fairly generic, here you can see other S&L zinc badges with the identical setup and a compilation of flat-wire catches on other S&L products.

[Norm F]

Type 2.4

2.4: flat-wire catch, short barrel hinge with short tapered pin

2.4.1 solid swastika (the most prevalent of all the sub-types)

2.4.2 cut-out swastika (a variation of hand finishing)

Type 2.4.1, by far the most common configuration, combines the generic flat-wire catch with a tapered pin which now is shorter to better conform to the low height of the U-Boat badge. This is the badge type that appears on the Lüdenscheid sample board right below a “4”-marked Spanish Cross.

The uncommon 2.4.2 is simply a sub-variation (no pun intended) of hand finishing which has the arms of the swastika cut out.

[Norm F]

2.5: flat-wire catch, block hinge and wide pin marked "4" (same pin used on the S&L EK1 and Tombak Destroyer badge)

And finally Type 2.5 is the rare "4" marked example. (Both of these were posted on WAF in past years but seemed to fall under the radar!)

This has the same type of marked pin found on some S&L EK1s, Spanish Crosses and Destroyers. Given S&L's post-war practice, it's hard to know whether these badges were assembled during the war or for the post-war barter trade from leftovers, but anyway it's another link to S&L.

[Norm F]

Summary

So there you have it. Two basic die types and ten “wartime” variations to collect (3 Tombak and 7 zinc).

Of course with all S&L’s zinc production one always wonders about post-war leftover stock and assembly, but at least this summary documents what we can consider as “wartime-compatible” variations, if not actually all verified wartime production.

My simultaneous thanks and apologies to all the collectors whose previously posted images I've used for the various compilations and comparisons presented in this study.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

BTW, here is the actual example 2.4.1 from the eMedals Lüdenscheid barter board.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Patrick W]

Great stuff Norm! excellent reference, many thanks

[JAndrew]

Norm,
Again, a super job and many thanks for sharing all of this.

There is only one problem with all of this for me personally. I now have about another dozen U-Boat badges to find for the collection!!!

But I guess collecting never ends.

JAndrew

[JustinG]

Question on "O" badge possible S&L

This is incredible Norm.
Wonderfully constructed. I am interested in knowing about the "O" marked awards that have been attributed to S&L. Is it in your belief that these badges with the "0" Marked are not an S&L manufactured piece?
Thanks.
Regards,
JustinG

[Norm F]

...
I am interested in knowing about the "O" marked awards that have been attributed to S&L. Is it in your belief that these badges with the "0" Marked are not an S&L manufactured piece?
Thanks.
Regards,
JustinG

Hi Justin,

Here's a "brief" reply to what is a big question.

As you know, the only KM badge with the raised "o" mark is the S&L zinc 1st pattern S-Boat. Certainly that badge is attributed to S&L. We know S&L ordered the tooling for the S-Boat from the firm of Paul Wissmann in Pforzheim in a letter dated December 18, 1941. The hardware found on them is typical for S&L. Certainly the "o" marked S-Boat appeared on the Lüdenscheid sample board (although with a barrel hinge setup rather than the usual round sheet metal hinge), and those boards are considered by many to represent a snapshot in time of what was available in Lüdenscheid in the early post-war period in 1945.

The problem, as with all of S&L's late war zinc products, is it's often impossible to tell for sure what was assembled during wartime versus post-war assembly from leftovers. Gordon Williamson saw a plethora of the round-hinge "o"-marked S-Boat badges appear on the market in Britain in the 1970's which seemed suspicious but also could just represent the release of a hoard of leftover stock. The S&L Auxiliary Cruiser badges with the post-war Type 2 globe probably also date from that era and represent a combination of wartime leftovers with post-war components. As a result, when it comes to zinc badges, S&L should always be considered the "Souval of the North", and the best we can say about zinc products without provenance is they're "wartime compatible".

Personally, I believe S&L made the S-Boat during the war (I especially like the one without the "o" on page 618 of the "The Kriegsmarine Awards"), but who knows when they stopped assembling them, and it seems unlikely the "o" marked ones were official award pieces as they were superceded by the 2nd pattern design only one year after S&L had ordered their tooling.

There is a 7 page discussion on the S&L "o" mark in this thread:
S-Boat badge... opinions?

With regards to the S&L U-Boat, the same principle applies (even though there's no "o" mark). The Tombak badges are certainly wartime as no doubt are a bunch of the zinc variants, but we can't be absolutely sure which zinc badges were wartime vs. post-war assembly of leftovers.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Norm F]

I just noticed that the U-Boat badge from the "S&L salesman's case" on Weitze's site has a good closeup of the reverse included. The main pin had become detached.

Best regards,
---Norm

[Thomas Durante]

Well done Norm! Great synopsis, along with some very good illustrations. Thanks for putting this together and trying to unravel the S&L mystery just a little bit more.

Nice job.

Tom

[BubbaZ]

Hi Norm, once again thank you very much
Cheers,
Hubert