Auxiliary Cruiser Badge

Auxiliary Cruiser Badge (Kriegsabzeichen für Hilfskreuzer). Constructed of gilded and silvered zink, the obverse consisting of an oval oak leaf wreath, surmounted by a Kriegsmarine eagle clutching a mobile swastika, around a central depiction of a Viking longship sailing over the Northern Hemisphere.   The reverse includes a barrel-style hinge with vertical pinback and flat wire catch, unmarked but with the physical characteristics of manufacture by Steinhauer & Lück, Lüdenscheid, measuring 44.4 mm (w) x 56.5 mm (h), weighing 35 grams, in good condition.

Product ID: 3229

£595.00

Out of stock

Description

Auxiliary Cruiser Badge

The Auxiliary Cruiser War Badge (Kriegsabzeichen für Hilfskreuzer) was a WW2 German decoration awarded to officers and men of the Kriegsmarine for service on Auxilary Cruisers or supply ships.  The award was instituted on 24.4.1941 by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder.

Designed by Wilhelm Ernst Peekhaus in Berlin, the award featured a Viking longship sailing over the northern hemisphere of the globe surrounded by a laurel wreath of oak leaves.  At the apex of the badge was a German Eagle clutching a swastika.  The wreath, eagle, and ship were in gilt and the globe area gray coloured. Versions were produced in bronze and later in zinc.

A special presentation version, featuring 15 small diamonds inlaid on the swastika, was presented in January 1942 by Grand Admiral Raeder to Kapitän zur See Bernhard Rogge, commander of the successful German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis.