Original Item: Only One available. Now this is a fantastic offering and is perfect for the WWII US Army Air Forces collector. These Crash Rescue Boat pins are extremely difficult to find in today's market, so you do not want to miss out on your opportunity to add this to your collections.

Crash boats, at the time known as "aircraft rescue boats" or "air-sea rescue boats", were United States high speed boats built to rescue the crew of downed Allied aircraft during World War II. US boats came from the observation of British experience with high-speed launches (HSL) by the Royal Air Force Marine Branch during the Battle of Britain.

By the end of World War II, America had produced 300,000 planes, creating a need to have crash rescue boats stationed around the globe. These boats were fast boats used to rescue pilots, crew and passengers from downed aircraft in search and rescue and air-sea rescue missions. The boats would race out to a crash site and rescue wounded aircrew.

The badge itself is in wonderful condition with a functional pin arm and catch. The details are still crisp and this is the AAF marked WWII version and not the post war USAF marked one. The reverse is marked with “STERLING” and has the manufacturer marking of BALFOUR.

During World War II, Balfour produced a variety of war-time medals and other products in support of the armed services. Shortly thereafter, Balfour manufactured the first press badge for the Boston Red Sox, beginning forty successive years of making ninety percent of all the baseball World Series press badges. Also, DuPont became the company's first major recognition products account.

This fantastic badge comes more than ready for further research and display.