E-Boat Badges

The Kriegsmarine, like most navies of the era, commissioned a variety of ships - each of which was designed to fulfill a particular mission. During the First World War, the Italian Navy commissioned small, swift, maneuverable, shallow draft torpedo boats, which were used with great success against the Austrian Navy in the Mediterranean. By the 1930's the torpedo boats and destroyers of World War One had evolved into the larger and more heavily armed corvettes, frigates and destroyers utilized in World War Two. These vessels were too large to operate in coastal waters, so naval designers produced various boats to protect coastal areas from naval attack. The Americans referred to their boats as P.T.'s and the British referred to theirs as M.T.B.'s. The Kriegsmarine actually had two types of vessels, Schnellbooten and Rammbooten, which the British Admiralty referred to interchangeably as E-Boats,without any apparent reason.

The Germans constructed approximately 200 Schnellbooten and 200 Rammbooten between 1933 and 1944. Two classes of each type of vessel were commissioned. The first Schnellbooten (Hull Nos. 5- 7, 8, 10-18), 2337 were constructed between 1933 and 1939. This class was 93 feet long, displaced 62 tons, carried two 19.7" torpedo tubes, two 1 pound anti-aircraft guns and one 20mm anti-aircraft gun. It was operated by a crew of 17 and had a maximum speed of 30-33 knots. The second class (Hull Nos. 38-57 and 58- 204) were constructed between 1939-40 and 1941-44. These boats were 105 feet long, displaced 86 tons, carried two 19.7" torpedo tubes and two 4 7mm anti-aircraft guns. They were also operated by a crew of 17 and had a maximum speed of 36 knots. The first group of Rammbooten (Hull Nos. 1-16) was built between 1930 and 1934. This class of boat was 85 feet long, displaced 45 tons and carried one 1 pound antiaircraft gun. It was operated by a crew of 15 and had a maximum speed of only 18 knots. The second class (Hulll Nos. 18-40 and 41-?) was constructed from 1935-39 and from 1940-44. This class was 85 feet long, displaced 90 tons and carried two 1 pound anti-aircraft guns. It was operated by a crew of 17 and had a maximum speed of 18 knots. The distinction between the two was principally that Schnellbooten were designed as torpedo attack boats, while Rammbooten were designed as motor minesweepers. The latter did not require the speed or armament of the former, yet both were encountered in all combat zones laying mines and harassing Allied shipping.

For example, E-Boats accompanied the Kriegsmarine capital ships to Norway in 1940, saw extensive service in the Mediterranean, escorted the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen in February, 1942, and attacked Allied shipping in the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel and Baltic Sea. When the first rumors of the Allied invasion of Normandy began to circulate through the German Command on the night of June 5/6,1944, Lt. Commander Heinrich Hoffman lead three E-Boats of his 5th E-Boat Flotilla from La Havre to search for the Allied fleet. Hoffman eventually encountered an eerie fog, and after pushing through, ran into the Royal Navy. Hoffman's boats attacked, launched 18 torpedoes and withdrew. One torpedo sunk the Norwegian destroyer Svenner. Although Hoffman was unable to alert German commands of the presence of the Allied invasion fleet until he returned to base due to the destruction of his radio, his flotilla was the only German naval unit to engage the Allies on June 6. E-Boats from Cherbourg claimed to have engaged Allied shipping on the morning of June 7, however, Allied naval units failed to report their attack. Nevertheless, the E-Boats saw a large amount of action; and it is estimated more than 140 were lost to Allied naval and aerial attack.

Before May, 1941, E-Boat crewman were awarded the Destroyer War Badge after participating in 12 operational sorties or being wounded in action. On May 30, 1941, the Berlin firm of Peckhaus released a new badge authorized for wear by qualified E- Boat crewman. Original badges were well made and measure approximately 1.75 inches wide by 2.25 inches long. I have encountered badges which are seven-eights of the size of the original badges; however, they are reproductions made from the original dies.

In 1943, Peekhaus released a second version of the E-Boat Badge. Absolutely no reason for the change of the design is known, however this is the only war badge to be redesigned during the war.

Both versions of the E-Boat Badge followed a similar design. In the center, an E- Boat is cruising toward the viewer's left with a visible wake at the bow. The E-Boat is surrounded by a wreath of oakleaves with the national emblem at the top. In both badges the E-Boat is silvered metal, the waves are darkened metal and the wreath and national emblem are gilted.

The second version is easily distinguished from the first. It is larger, measuring approximately 2" wide by 2.25" long. The proportions of each element of the second version of the badge are larger than the first, with the tip of the E-boat's bow actually breaking beyond the right exterior of the wreath. The national emblem appears to be almost twice the size as that of the first version, with the swastika extending further into the void between the wreath and the cabin house of the E-Boat.

Both versions of the E-boat badge were affixed to the uniform by a wide, flat horizontal pin positioned behind the E-Boat. The pin is affIxed to the badge by a heavy hinge on the right side and a sturdy catch on the left side of the badge's reverse. Additionally, a hook is found behind the national emblem, which was used to hook the top of the badge to the uniform to protect it from flapping.

Reproductions of both badges frequently utilize a thin round vertical pin with flimsy hinge and catch. The detail and construction of many reproductions is poor, although some reproductions of reasonable quality have been encountered.

The following books were used in preparing this article and are recommended for further reading. Morrison, US. Naval Operations In World War II: Operations In North African Waters, Little, Brown (Boston, 1968) , Ruge, Der Seekreig, U.S. Naval Institute (Annapolis, 1957) Morrison, U.S. Naval Operations·In World War II- The Invasion of France and Germany, Little, Brown (Boston,. 1964) Jane's Fighting Ships 1944-45, Arno Publishing Co. Inc. (New York, 1971) Von Der Porten, The German Navy in World War Two, Crowell (New York, 1969) MacIntyre, The Naval War Against Hitler, Scribners (New York, 1971) Morrison: U.S. Naval Operations In World War II: Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Little, Brown (Boston, 1968) Ryan, The Longest Day, Simon and Schuster (New York, 1959) Dodkins and Littlejohn, Orders, Decorations, Medals and Badges of the Third Reich, Bender Publishing, (Mountain View, CA, 1970)

Robert McCarthy and Philip Carson, "Coastal Craft Badges", Der Gauleiter, 1991