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PRESENTATION U-BOAT BADGE WITH DIAMONDS GIVEN U-BOAT

Currency:USD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:2,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
PRESENTATION U-BOAT BADGE WITH DIAMONDS GIVEN U-BOAT
PRESENTATION U-BOAT BADGE WITH DIAMONDS GIVEN U-BOAT CAPT. FRIEDRICH GUGGENBERGER, TORPEDOED THE ARK ROYAL
A presentation private-purchase U-boat badge adorned with diamond chips, presented to U-81 Capt. Friedrich ("Fritz") Guggenberger (1915-1988). This badge was almost certainly awarded to Guggenberger by the crewmen who served beneath him upon the occasion of his being awarded the Knights Cross a few weeks after the sinking of the Ark Royal, on Dec. 10, 1941. The badge is jeweler-made example of fire-gilt silver (marked "800" on reverse), the swastika inlaid with small diamonds. The badge is set into a fitted hand-made mahogany box, likewise constructed by crewmen, with his initials "F. G." carved on the top lid. The label of jewelry maker "Schwenk" in Freudenstadt has been varnished to the bottom of the box, the varnish appropriately aged. Provenance: TIME-LIFE Collection; The War Museum. Exhibition History: The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va., Exhibition: "Carriers, Codes and Silent Ships", 1996. Sold with a copy of the Baltimore News-Post, Nov. 14, 1941, the lead story reporting the sinking of the famous aircraft carrier. Guggenberger would sink a total of 17 vessels in his career, until his capture in May, 1943.