SAN new submariners badge
 

Hi all,
Just for general interest the South African Navy (SAN) Submariners proudly received their new qualifying badge, on Thursday 07 May 2009. This badge is the third badge to be worn by members of the SAN Submarine Service. 127 qualified submariners of the SAN are eligible to wear this badge. The badge conforms to the design and position of honour followed by many Navies of the world and is proudly worn by submariners throughout the world. The badge is proof of a submariner’s competence and displays the ability to perform all designated tasks onboard a submarine.

Neville

Subs badge
 

Hi Neville
Thanks for the pic, nice badge, but another one I'm going to need to get...
Does it come in 2 sizes, normal dress & mess dress.
Cheers,
Alex

SAN new submariners badge
 

Hi Alex,
Yes it does, but at the moment the people who qualify have only been given 1 of each the rest are keept by the Senior Officer Subs. Even the slops (stores) havant been given any. So we will have to wait awhile to get for our collections (drat). By the way this badge has been on the drawing board since 1994 shows how slow the wheels turn in the military.

Neville

Hi Neville,
I'm impressed. It is a very nice looking badge.
Just how many qualified submariners are there in our rapidly declining Navy ?
If they are tightly controlled then we aren't going to be seeing them on the market anytime soon.

Hi Neville, Thank you for the picture. I agree with Alex, another one for the "wants" list. Regards Andrew

Guys

Believe it or not, picked up a worn one of these in March whilst down in Fish Hoek, walked into a second hand shop and they had this one and and an older version under the glass counter...............both the same price!

Dont ask for the price, but it was an absolute steal:D

All about timing, a retired sailor had brought them in 2 days before my visit.

Brian

Jammy B*&(*)@&*!!! ;)

Sometimes you are just lucky. Have fun. Regards Andrew

Congrats
 

Good for you Brain, but please keep off my turf, I dont go hunting around Durbs. I would have got there sooner or later. Just kidding, the joy is in the hunt.
Neville

Neville

I was waiting for a response from you:D It is an extended part of my turf as my father lives there;)

We normally come down once a year to celebrate his birthday, needless to say I spend a lot of the time turning "your" local haunts inside out and upside down, only once come away empty handed.

Regards
Brian

Contact
 

Hi Brian,
Give me a PM next time you around, maybe we can meet for coffee.
Neville

Neville

Will do, always great to meet fellow collectors. Look forward to meeting you.

Brian

Hi Guys,
Just a short note to add to this thread.

Both my brothers are ex submariners and attended the reunion recently.
All the ex members were issued the new badge as part of the reunion.

These were the chromed version as apposed to the gilt version in nevilles picture.
The story they were told re. chrome vs. gilt is as follows.

The chrome badges were produced a few years ago, but a group of officers insisted that they wanted a gold version to distinguish themselves from the nco's.
This put a halt to the issuing of the new badge until discussions/negotiations were completed.
The end result was that everyone (officers and nco's) got a new gilt badge.
This left the unit with a hoard of chrome badges which they have now issued to the ex members.

Steven

Seven

Thanks for the "inside info", always interesting to find out about badge info from source. Without these stories we would never know for sure and at least we now know.

Regards
Brian

Hi All
Just to add to what Steven has mentioned, these badges were originally designed and approved as submariner bridge-watchkeeping badges I believe in about 1992. They were never issued at the time and the idea was put on hold before being resurected a few years ago, and the badges redesignated as submariner type-endorsement badges.
Cheers,
Alex