Prichard, Pete. Submarine Badges and Insignia of the World: An Illustrated Reference for Collectors. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military/Aviation History, 1997.

ISBN 0-7643-0255-8
136 pages

Acknowledgments; Foreword; Caveats and Conventions; Glossary; Bibliography.

Appendix: Origins of U.S. Submariner's Badge.

Some folks collect books. Some folks collect badges and insignia. Some from each group will want books about badges and insignia, in this case submarine badges and insignia.

The author indicates that books about submarine collectibles are "out-numbered by books on military buttons and Celtic war swords" and I'm willing to believe him, although he doesn't mention if he collects buttons and swords as well as sub badges. Schiffer apparently agreed with the author's assessment and, having just published its "Blood Chit" book to fill the gaping hole in that particular collectibles arena, decided this was another great opportunity. In any event, whatever the size of the sub badge book gap in the fabric of space and time, Pete Prichard and Schiffer have filled it admirably.

Now just in case some of you are getting the idea from the preceding that I'm a long-established expert in the field of sub badges, let me dissuade you from that notion. I couldn't, I have to admit, tell the difference between an authentic badge and a fake even if Admiral Hyman Rickover held a hauriant dolphin to the back of my head.

So, much as with art, I don't know sub badges but I know what I like and this is pretty cool.

Prichard moves alphabetically through every nation which had in the past, now has, or is on the verge of having a submarine force and methodically presents crisp photographic illustrations and brief commentary on what appears to be every badge or insignia ever that graced a submariner's uniform. This amounts to a lot of nations and a lot of badges packed into the book. To round things out, the author also discusses "countries that operate or operated submarines but have no known submarine badges."

While mostly these are modern sub badges -- logically enough, since most of the navies operating subs are modern navies -- there are also quite a few badges from the World War II era. Lots of stylized dolphins and torpedoes and miniature subs.

For dummies such as myself, Prichard is kind enough to reveal some of the fake badges and describe how they can be detected. The book concludes with an appendix including a transcript of Ernie King's (later Fleet Admiral King) 1923 letter proposing to the Secretary of the Navy creation of the original USN submarine badge and assorted sketches of the designs initially proposed.

A bit off the beaten track for us, but a very handsome coffee table book.

If nothing else, after you've read this you'll have seen some nifty badges and you might even know the difference between a hauriant dolphin and a naiant one.

Available from mail order booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Schiffer.

Thanks to Schiffer for providing this review copy.