Description
This is an identified, depot-issued enlisted sailor’s dress tunic (nicknamed a “monkey jacket”). It is made of dark-blue wool. Eighteen gold-toned buttons run down its center in a double row. Two more same-sized buttons appear on its lapels. Six smaller gilt buttons decorated each cuff. A dress tunic was never actually buttoned up. Instead, two buttons connected by a chain were attached through opposing buttonholes in order to preserve a neat appearance. All of the tunic’s buttons, whether large or small, display a fouled anchor beneath the Hohenzollern Crown.
The interior confirms that it was depot-issued through two separate depot marks, one of which is dated 18 December 1908. The sailor assigned to the tunic’s name, “Schmid,” is sewn between the two depot marks. The tunic’s condition, both inside and out, is excellent.
