Leather U Boat Jackets

Peacoat · Jan 21, 2012

Thanks, yet another order from Amazon.

Edit Note: I bought both the Director's Cut and the Uncut versions as the reviews indicated they were a bit different. Forgot to see if I could get them in English subtitles and not the English overdubs.

kronos77 · Nov 27, 2015

Back from the dead comes this thread. Tony B mentioned that there were single breasted u-boat jackets for enlisted men. Has anyone a picture or two of these or maybe a link to a seller?

Edward · Nov 28, 2015

Doctor Strange said:
Wested claims to have made the film jackets:

http://www.wested.com/dr-who-jacket-20-p.asp

I wouldn't doubt it. They make a lot of tv wardrobe; without a Hollywood budget, it's an obvious choice...

Capesofwrath · Nov 28, 2015

Not sure it’s always a recommendation if a company makes the show's jackets. Some prop jackets tend to be made of very light material because of the heat on sets, and the discomfort of leather in sometimes strenuous and energetic situations.

Seb Lucas · Nov 29, 2015

Capesofwrath said:
Not sure it’s always a recommendation if a company makes the show's jackets. Some prop jackets tend to be made of very light material because of the heat on sets, and the discomfort of leather in sometimes strenuous and energetic situations.

Like the lambskin Indiana Jones jacket Wested made. The leather isn't really the issue (you can pick a range of good leathers from Wested) it's how well it is made. Stitching for a costume jacket is often less rigorous than a real world jacket. But even there Wested do a pretty good job these days so I wouldn't be too concerned about quality.

RayR · Dec 10, 2015

Troglodyte said:
My favorite remains John Doyle's brilliant reproduction of the Ninth Doctor Who's jacket, which was a WWII U-Boat design:

http://www.thebadwolf.com/

John is an amateur, and this is the only jacket he offers (brown or black). He can customize some items (heavier lining, anachronistic cell phone pocket, etc.) if desired.

Trog

FYI as of recently BAD Wolf is no more. John has linked this to his "real" business Clarity IT. I don't know if he would answer any jacket quires. Guess it depends on his mood. But that is the same guy, by my research. Meanwhile, as the owner of the original 1940-something German U-Boat jacket this is modeled after (for Doctor Who #9) and owner of a Bad Wolf, I can say that the Magnoli U-Boat jacket is probably more accurate. The collar sure is. And Indi is accommodating to your specifications, unlike John at Bad Wolf who basically told me "this is how I make it. Take it or leave it".
Heres the real thing:

Only the buttons were changed from the original Brass Kriegsmarine officer buttons.

CBI · Dec 10, 2015

Love the look but it almost seems out of context in 2015. A long black leather coat ............ pretty dramatic!

Love U-Boat history!!!

Peacoat · Dec 10, 2015

RayR, thanks for posting that piece of history. What is the actual color; is it grey, or a faded black?

Interestingly, the front of the coat is very similar to a US Navy WWI peacoat.

Seb Lucas · Dec 10, 2015

I thought these were mistakenly called u-boat jackets but were actually civilian jackets form the period 1940-1960. The idea being that some navy people wore them on u-boats in the war but they were never issued. Later these evolved into the well known double breasted German police jackets that you can still get on ebay for fairly cheap.

Capesofwrath · Dec 10, 2015

Seb Lucas said:
I thought these were mistakenly called u-boat jackets but were actually civilian jackets form the period 1940-1960. The idea being that some navy people wore them on u-boats in the war but they were never issued. Later these evolved into the well known double breasted German police jackets that you can still get on ebay for fairly cheap.

Based on a German coachman’s coat from much earlier I thought. In fact I believe I’ve read that just like the Battle of Britain era Luftwaffe pilot's jackets they were private purchase.

I’ve got an Aero Mariner which is well used now and I prefer to think of it as a coachman’s coat rather than some sort of uniform anyway. As to Dr Who…..

Seb Lucas · Dec 10, 2015

Ah huh, well I know a Dr Who fan who did his own research after the Bad Wolf jacket came out and his research suggested there was no u-boat jacket like this, just some officers who put shiny buttons on their leather civilian peacoats. I'd like to hear from someone who can point to documents or something more definitive since this story goes on and I'd like to believe the u-boat account.

Capesofwrath · Dec 10, 2015

Seb Lucas said:
Ah huh, well I know a Dr Who fan who did his own research after the Bad Wolf jacket came out and his research suggested there was no u-boat jacket like this, just some officers who put shiny buttons on their leather civilian peacoats. I'd like to hear from someone who can point to documents or something more definitive since this story goes on and I'd like to believe the u-boat account.

I’m not doubting that the above coat was used on a U boat but it’s just whether it was issued as uniform or not. As with many things the web age has only clouded the issue and it’s very difficult to find an authoritative account. I would doubt that coats were issued to officers though since they would have been expected to buy their own uniforms I imagine. Certainly in the British forces other ranks were issued uniforms but officers went to a tailor and had their’s made up.

In the Great War when junior officers casualty rates were very high the usually snobbish army opened its doors to officers who were not what they would have thought of as really the type they should normally commission. It was said then by the more class conscious that an officer who had a tie that was a lighter shade of khaki than his shirt may have been an officer but was not a gentleman.

tropicalbob · Dec 10, 2015

I wonder if we haven't somewhat lost the idea of certain clothes being associated with professions. I remember reading that the peacoat first appeared among Dutch sailors in the 1600's, and was made from pijj, or 30 oz. wool (pijjjacket). It was later adopted by the British and then the Americans, and later by sailors all over the world. I've always assumed the U-boat jacket to be simply a version of a peacoat. It shouldn't be too hard to find out if it was officially recognized, but my guess is that officers engaged in highly dangerous duties, such as those in the Luftwaffe or the Submariner Corps., would be given a certain leeway in non-ceremonial dress.

Smithy · Dec 10, 2015

kronos77 said:
Back from the dead comes this thread. Tony B mentioned that there were single breasted u-boat jackets for enlisted men. Has anyone a picture or two of these or maybe a link to a seller?

The single breasted leather U-boat crew jacket you refer to was for engine personnel, or Maschinenpersonal, it was single breasted with 5 buttons and was made in both black and grey, although grey seems to have been the prevalent colour amongst U-boat crews.

Seb Lucas said:
I thought these were mistakenly called u-boat jackets but were actually civilian jackets form the period 1940-1960. The idea being that some navy people wore them on u-boats in the war but they were never issued. Later these evolved into the well known double breasted German police jackets that you can still get on ebay for fairly cheap.

There were two issued jackets/coats Seb. That for engine personnel as I mention above and the iconic U-boat jacket which was for deck personnel. These were both black and grey as well and 4 button with a 5th button for fastening the neck closed. They had a plain horizontal seam across the chest and had a simple unadorned cuff. They also sometimes had epaulettes.

Here's a photo of U-boat skipper Otto Kretschmer about to leave on patrol wearing his deck jacket. You can see the grey colour, horizontal chest seam and the simple cuff.

183-2004-0504-500__Kapit_nleutnant_Otto_Kretschmer_zpss6tabjby.jpg

Smithy · Dec 11, 2015

I thought that I might post these in this thread for those looking for references for actual issued Kriegsmarine/U-boat service leather jackets. I hope they might be of help to those interested in these jackets and give some visual evidence of what these jackets looked like.

A great photo of both deck and engine personnel jackets:

Skipper in his deck jacket (possibly a black example with rank epaulettes) with his crew sporting the engine personnel single breasted example.

A "large size" deck jacket in the grey shade worn by an Oberleutnant zur See rank skipper:

Peacoat · Dec 11, 2015

Thanks, Smithy. These are great photos. Easy to pick out the Skipper from the group of sailors; he has The Look.

If these leather U Boat peacoats weren't issued, or made available for official purchase, then there must have been a regulation with specs for private purchase as they all appear to be the same.

Seb Lucas · Dec 11, 2015

Interesting Smithy. They are clearly very different in cut, pattern and colour to the Dr Who coat. Obviously the navy version was longer with different seams and slightly plainer by the look of the photos.

Smithy · Dec 11, 2015

Peacoat said:
Thanks, Smithy. These are great photos. Easy to pick out the Skipper from the group of sailors; he has The Look.

If these leather U Boat peacoats weren't issued, or made available for official purchase, then there must have been a regulation with specs for private purchase as they all appear to be the same.

Seb Lucas said:
Interesting Smithy. They are clearly very different in cut, pattern and colour to the Dr Who coat. Obviously the navy version was longer with different seams and slightly plainer by the look of the photos.

Unfortunately a lot of people have tried to cash in on the U-boat service coat/jacket thing by claiming that various German and/or period double breasted leather jackets were U-boat issue by sewing Kriegsmarine buttons on similar jackets and claiming that they are original.

Original jackets which served in the U-boat service are actually incredibly rare, remember that 3/4 of those who served in the service were lost at sea and that therefore actual jackets with provenance are exceedingly rare, most lie at the bottom of the sea.

As I mentioned there were only two types of leather jacket which were issued and they were of a fairly simple pattern. One of the biggest give-aways if a jacket is real, is length. Kriegsmarine/U-boat double breasted deck service jackets are true 3/4 length coming to the knee or just below. They also have no detail, straps, buttons, etc on the cuff, nothing that can catch in rough weather.

The Dr Who coat and those like it which say they are based on an "actual" U-boat deck coat are simply not the same thing.

Seb Lucas · Dec 11, 2015

Thanks Smithy, a useful clarification and one I was wondering about for years. You get a koala bear stamp.

tropicalbob · Dec 12, 2015

Yes, thank you, Smithy. That makes sense.

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