L/53 destroyer badge

[schwelch]

Hi guys,

I'm very happy again

Today my new Hymmen L/53 marked destroyer badge has arrived. In my opinion one of the most rare zinc destroyer badges and I'm more than happy, that I got it .

I hopy you like it as well and opinions are welcome!!!

BR
Sven

[schwelch]

setup

[schwelch]

setup & maker mark

[Giel VW]

Nice and very uncommon badge Sven. Don't think I have ever put my hands on a Hymmen destroyer before!

[Norm F]

Another awesome Destroyer in your collection!

Best regards,
---Norm

[BubbaZ]

Fantastic find, congrats!
Cheers,
Hubert

[Nordmark]

Never even seen before...nice...


Daniel

[Norm F]

Hi Sven,

Now that you have this badge in hand you might want to make some nice comparisons with your Schickle badges since the Schickle and Hymmen Destroyers share the same obverse design but with different interior cutouts (as discussed in the Destroyer classification thread).

Best regards,
---Norm

[Tom Yanacek]

Hi Sven,

I've never seen one of those before. Must be rare for sure. Nice badge and congrats!

Best regards,
Tom

[schwelch]

Hi guys,

thanks a lot for your comments, very much appreciated!!!

As far as I remeber I only know three of them at the moment, so it's really very rare in my opinion.

@Norm: I will make some comparision pictures within the weekend.

BR
Sven

[schwelch]

Hi guys,

please find attached some comparision pics.
The left one is always a Schickle attributed zinc destroyer, the one in the middle is a Schickle attributed tombak destroyer and the right example is the Hymmen destroyer.

BR
Sven

[schwelch]

comparision pics 2

[schwelch]

comparision pics 3

[Norm F]

Excellent Sven! Thanks for posting these comparisons. Images of the four other Hymmen examples I had on file couldn't resolve this issue but your examples prove that, although they share the same obverse design, the Schickle and Hymmen Destroyers did not come from the same obverse production die.

I find it intriguing that Hymmen made a Destroyer in the same design as Schickle. We know how "off-the-wall" Hymmen's designs tend to be -- his U-Boat based on the unusual rudder-less early Deumer, his Minesweeper a bizarre one-of-a-kind. For the Destroyer he chose a design that was mainstream early in the war but quickly fell out of favour when its main proponent was barred from production in 1941.

We can only speculate what went on in Hymmen's mind when coming up with their esoteric designs. Were the reasons political, economic or purely aesthetic?

Best regards,
---Norm