Questions About the United States Navy Peacoat

[wetmarble]

I found some new information:

Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/uniform_master_list.htm

Peacoat button configuration change:

A new convertible-type collar, permitting men to open the collar at the throat, is an alteration of the enlisted men's overcoat.

To insure a neat appearance, the old style overcoat may be worn open at the throat with two buttons unbuttoned, producing the same general effect as one button unbuttoned in the new style coat. Overcoats may be worn buttoned at the neck or CO's may prescribe that mode for military formations and other functions.
...
Source: "Uniform Changes Listed: Peacoat Will Get New Convertible Collar." All Hands. 375 (May 1948)"

Peacoat button type change:

As a move to make the peacoat more compatible with the new service dress blue uniform, the Navy is now requiring men to change the black plastic buttons to silver oxidized buttons.
...
The changeover to the silver buttons for the peacoat will be required by 1 Jul 1975.

 

[Peacoat]

Wet Marble: That's good information to know. My information was that it was later, perhaps 1977.

Did you get my email?

 

[Jovan]

Slightly fftopic:, but does anyone own a Sterlingwear 100% wool pea coat? They have what they call an eight button style there (which also has a better, stand up collar), but I'm wondering if there's two extra buttons hidden to fasten it all the way up. Thanks.

 

[Peacoat]

Slightly fftopic:, but does anyone own a Sterlingwear 100% wool pea coat? They have what they call an eight button style there (which also has a better, stand up collar), but I'm wondering if there's two extra buttons hidden to fasten it all the way up. Thanks.

I think I have an eight button Sterlingwear squirreled away somewhere, but I will have to wait until tomorrow to find it. Will let you know then if it is Sterlingwear and the button configuration.

 

[Dakota]

I have a Sterlingwear peacoat that is 100% wool. It is actual military issue. I think from the DLA # the date is either 88 or 90. I don't have it in front of me at the moment but I will look later. I purchased it new from someone in the Navy. It is a very nice coat and warm too. It has 3 buttons on one side and 4 on the other, with one of those button being near the collar.

Dakota

 

[wetmarble]

Hey Peacoat, ya, I got your email, but I've been absolutely slammed at work the last few days. I'll write back tomorrow, gotta get to sleep now though.

 

[Peacoat]

Slightly fftopic:, but does anyone own a Sterlingwear 100% wool pea coat? They have what they call an eight button style there (which also has a better, stand up collar), but I'm wondering if there's two extra buttons hidden to fasten it all the way up. Thanks.

I found my Sterlingwear. The designation is M22. It is not 100% wool, but 80% and is not military issue. It has eight buttons down the front, plus two more hidden under the collar to button the front of the coat up against the throat. Seldom are these buttons actually used because it is easier and warmer to wear a scarf.

A few months ago I gave my 1992 Navy issue Sterlingwear to a friend of mine. It was a six button coat, though, and I don't remember specifically about the buttons under the collar. Although, all of the six button coats I have seen have either one or two buttons under the collar so the collar can be buttoned up tight in windy and cold conditions. Only one button can be used, and that is under the right collar.

I looked at my WWII eight button coat, and it has two more buttons hidden under the collar.

I would think that the coat you are looking at does have the two (or perhaps one) additional buttons hidden under the collar. I will see if I can find a picture of what you are looking at to confirm it.

 

[Peacoat]

I found the eight button Sterlingwear "Classic" and the "Mariner," in 100% wool, and would be willing to bet that both of them have one or two buttons under the collar to keep the coat close to the throat when windy or cold.

If you don't want to try and find an issue peacoat, and don't care about having the "old" style smooth wool, then the Sterlingwear civilian model is currently the best available, based on what I have read and seen.

 

[wetmarble]

Navy Issue peacoats are ALL over ebay at a far better price than you can get them elsewhere. Just be sure to ask for all of your measurements before buying.

 

[wetmarble]

Here's a nice officer's coat that just sold on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWA:IT&viewitem=&item=180083631813&rd=1&rd=1

 

[Jovan]

I found the eight button Sterlingwear "Classic" and the "Mariner," in 100% wool, and would be willing to bet that both of them have one or two buttons under the collar to keep the coat close to the throat when windy or cold.

If you don't want to try and find an issue pea coat, and don't care about having the "old" style smooth wool, then the Sterlingwear civilian model is currently the best available, based on what I have read and seen.

Thank you so much! This is what I come here for; you guys are really helpful and knowledgeable.

I don't really mind if it's not military issue. I was, in fact, looking at the Mariner. I mostly like its look since I saw that eight button (or rather, 8x4) older style pea coat in this thread.

My current pea coat doesn't button quite as neatly as those eight button ones I've seen, either. It's also 73% wool, 27% nylon... I've now become a stickler for 100% natural fibres. The last strike against it is that it doesn't close both ways. Clearly not military issue at all, but they say you get what you pay for!

As for those who prefer to wear a scarf, so do I. It's just nice to have that feature in case, though.

 

[green papaya]

non military issue pea coats

I prefer the non military issue pea coats, they are not as heavy as military issue, and they feel more comfortable and have a fuller cut, with more freedom of movement.

I tried one of the imported pea coats made in Cambodia and it fit me better than the military issue pea coat

 

[bpc]

Gents,

I've enjoyed reading through the past couple years of this thread. It's been helpful in telling me lots that I didn't already know about Naval jackets.

In the spirit of fine outerwear, I figured I'd share a recent thrift-store find of mine:

As a few of you have noted, this officer's (or Academy?) bridge coat was made by a commercial manufacturer, so the tag is a little different. Still, I imagine that the '68' in there means 1968?

Whatever its roots, it's a great coat, and certainly a great $10 find.

 

[Jovan]

$10? Holy crap, even if it were an 80/20 modern one, it'd be a steal! My size, too.

 

[Peacoat]

Yes, it is a 1968 coat with the thick dark midnight blue wool, I imagine. Is it a long coat, say about the length of an overcoat, or is it shorter, like a regular peacoat that comes to just below the butt?

If it is a long coat, then it is a bridge coat for officers. If it is peacoat length, then it is a chief's coat (both officers and chiefs wear gold buttons).

I just went back and looked at the shoulders. There are epaulets there for the shoulder boards, so it is a long officer's bridge coat. Odd, because I haven't seen that type of tag on the bridge coats. Most of the bridge coat tags that I have seen are more "commercial" looking than that tag. But then, bridge coats are not my specialty.

Does it have a zip out lining? Many of them do. Mine does, or rather it did, and unfortunately the lining is permanently zipped out (lost somewhere on the high seas).

Even if you had paid five times that amount for the coat, you would still have gotten a good deal.

 

[bpc]

Is it a long coat, say about the length of an overcoat, or is it shorter, like a regular peacoat that comes to just below the butt?

Does it have a zip out lining? Many of them do. Mine does, or rather it did, and unfortunately the lining is permanently zipped out (lost somewhere on the high seas).

As you noted by the epaulets, it's indeed a long coat, going down to about my knees.

As far as a lining goes, there is not one now, nor does there seem to have been one before (e.g. no zipper for a liner to zip into). There are a couple spare pieces inside, though. One little buttoned flap on the left hip (saber hole, maybe?) and an extra little 3-inch diamond-ended piece of removable fabric buttoned inside the right side. Not sure about that one.


Everyone who's posted in this thread should give yourselves a pat on the back for saving this coat. When I got it, I knew nothing about Naval coats and was ready to replace those gorgeous Waterbury buttons with some black plastic ones (to the extent that I actually went out and bought buttons and black thread), so I could have an all black winter coat. Thankfully, I decided to look on the Net for a little info about the coat before I got the scissors out, and I stumbled across this thread. After reading how into these great coats you fellows are, there is no way that I'd mess with it. Thanks for opening my eyes.

 

[Peacoat]

Glad you found the forum and saved the coat!

 

[Jovan]

Here's a piccy of my current pea coat.

I was feeling a bit like Captain Morgan that day.

 

[Peacoat]

Jovan, looks like a size 38?

Below is a picture of the 1965 tag that I discussed last week. Note the absence of any date coding as was shown in the "US NAVY" tags that were posted a while back. This US Navy tag was used from 1959, or the early sixties to 1965. Some of the earlier versions had the date coded in the tag.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Here's the strangest WWII-era peacoat I've ever come across. The cloth is very fuzzy, sort of like steel wool. I've never seen anything like it.