High End Replica Items: Only One Lot of 2 Available. These are very well constructed and hand painted replica canvas / cotton wall hangers/flags “attributed” to the US Navy Balao-Class Submarine, USS Sea Dog (SS 401) and Gato-Class USS Drum (SS-228).

USS Sea Dog Flag: The flag features a fish with a dog face and clawed paws. USS SEA DOG is stenciled above the image.

USS Drum Flag: The flag features a skull and crossbones, resembling a pirate’s Jolly Roger flag.

These are not Disney animation studio images, but they were heavily influenced by them.

By the time America entered WWII, Disney animations had proven themselves as true feature-length films with box-office toppers like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. Disney’s animated shorts had already gained immense popularity to the point where Mickey Mouse was depicted on the patch of a Naval Reserve Squadron.

Although unsanctioned by Disney, the pre-war patch started a trend that exploded across the military during WWII. In fact, Disney had to dedicate five artists to the full-time task of filling requests for military insignias.

The Navy in particular had a fondness for incorporating Disney characters into its insignias.

These are incredible, museum quality replicas that would display wonderfully in any WWII US Navy collections. Comes more than ready for display!

The tradition of submarine battle flags began during WWII when subs returning from
patrol would fly flags representing ships sunk, total tonnage, or a broom indicating a “clean sweep” (meaning that every target engaged was destroyed). Toward the end of the war the crews started making flags specific to their boat with a logo and sewn patches indicating ships sunk, the number of patrols, pilots rescued, citations received, etc.

Battle flags in World War II kept an unofficial record of the number of ships a submarine sank. Warships were represented by the rising sun version of the Japanese flag, while the merchant vessels were represented by the "meatball" flags. The submarine's logo was also featured on the flag. The difficulties in assessing actual damage from attacks on the enemy led many submarines to overestimate their successes. After the war, an Allied naval review board discovered inaccuracies as great as thirty percent during an examination of Japanese losses credited to American submarines.

USS Drum (SS-228)
USS Drum (SS-228) is a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy, the first Navy ship named after the drum, a type of fish. Drum is a museum ship in Mobile, Alabama, at Battleship Memorial Park.

Drum was laid down on 11 September 1940 at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 12 May 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Beatrice M. Holcomb, wife of Major General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. The boat was commissioned on 1 November 1941, with Commander Robert H. Rice in command.

Drum was the twelfth of the Gato class but was the first completed and the first to enter combat in World War II. She is the oldest of her class still in existence.

USS Sea Dog (SS-401)
USS Sea Dog (SS-401/AGSS-401) was a Balao-class submarine in the United States Navy. She was the first ship to be named for the dogfish, a small shark of the North Atlantic, considered destructive by fishermen.

Sea Dog was laid down on 1 November 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 28 March 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Claire Dowden Lowrance, wife of the prospective commanding officer, and commissioned on 3 June 1944 with Commander Vernon L. Lowrance in command.

Following a month's training off the New England coast, Sea Dog sailed for Pearl Harbor to join Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 28 and prepare for her first war patrol. Arriving in Hawaii on 22 August, she sailed west on 13 September, topped off at Midway Island on 17 September; and entered her patrol area in the Nansei Shoto on 28 September.