Bundesmarine Visors

[FtrPlt]

This is probably the rarest of my Bundeswehr caps. A Bundesmarine Admiral visor cap, circa mid-1960s (this one is not dated). This one has a permanent blue top and has the large round shape carried over from the Kriegsmarine. Later caps tend to have oval-shaped tops. The Bundesmarine stopped using the blue-tops in 1968.

Apologies for the quality. As soon as the cap was outside, it was immediately covered by pollen




Mid-grade Officer Cap with removable blue top (1964)

[ww2relichunter]

what makes this 60s cap so rare i have never heard of it before ??

[FtrPlt]

The Bundesmarine of the 1960s was only a fraction of the size of the Kriegsmarine. Comparatively speaking, there were very few admirals -- therefore far fewer hats. Most Bundesmarine officer caps have removable tops whereas this one has a fixed/non-removable blue top. For summer, a white cover was worn over the blue.

After 1968, Bundesmarine officers only wore white tops. So, to me: a cap for a very senior officer in a very small branch of service that only wore blue tops for 13 years.

Also, I wrote that I consider this to be the rarest of my caps, not necessarily the rarest Bundeswehr cap.

[oradour]

Indeed rare caps for the uninitiated ! Thanks for showing, any Marine caps from the1950's through to the 1960's is rare to come by....They are not often seen for sale. Thanks for showing FtrPlt.........WW2relichunter what do you know about BW caps, do you collect ?
Prost ! Steve.

[stonemint]

I like it. Interesting to see the chinstrap snap system--the books state that BM visors did not have this feature, so another urban legend is dead.

BTW, who is the maker--Alkero?

[BOB COLEMAN]

what makes this 60s cap so rare i have never heard of it before ??

If you took the time to read the owner's description, there within is the answer to your question.

[FtrPlt]

I like it. Interesting to see the chinstrap snap system--the books state that BM visors did not have this feature, so another urban legend is dead.

BTW, who is the maker--Alkero?

Yes. Alkero. The chinstrap is a vinyl version of the KM strap. It's the only cap I've seen with this type on it. If it was leather, I would be inclined to think the owner just put a KM strap on it. While about twice as thick as the PoS on the lower rank caps, it's still vinyl so my belief is that this is the strap that came with the cap.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Very nice material, thanks, and these are rare things, to be sure.

[gel65]

Wow that is a rare cap I only remember seeing a few army generals never an Admiral

[FtrPlt]

Finding Bundesmarine caps with non-removable blue tops is difficult. I'm not sure what percentage of officers purchased this type as opposed to the style with the removable top but, from surviving examples, I'd suspect not very high. I'm also not sure if the blue caps with white covers could continue in use?

There's a company in Germany that still sells the blue covers but they are unlined and not made with the same quality wool.