WWII Era US Navy Shawl Collar Denim Jacket

WWII Era US Navy Shawl Collar Denim Jacket

The US Navy issued denim to enlisted sailors from the early 1900s. The shawl collar jacket started as a pullover and became a full button-front design around the end of the First World War. By WWII it was the standard working jacket aboard ship, worn for deck work, engine rooms and everything in between, across every theater the fleet sailed.

It was built entirely for life at sea. The buttons were removable shanks held on with split rings, so they could be pulled off before scrubbing, since sailors often washed their own dungarees. Small eyelets at the hem let the jacket be tied off to dry on deck. A buttonhole at the collar closed the shawl up at the throat against wind and spray.

The buttons are the detail collectors look for. Earlier jackets used metal NAVY anchor buttons, which later wartime production replaced with plastic, likely as metal was conserved for the war effort. This one kept its metal set, which points to early wartime production, likely the first years of American involvement in the war. Each button is worn to a dark patina, with matching rust marks on the denim around them from years on the jacket.

Without a stamp or label I can’t rule out late-1930s production, but “early 1940s” fits the metal buttons and is the most likely range.

One that passed through the shop.