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SA Marine |
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Organization Information - SA Marine Each SA Gruppe had a company dedicated to marine activities, called Marine - Sturm. This company was made from SA members who had Naval experience or who were professional sea men working as sailors or fishermen. One of their main duties was to train new naval recruits for the Kriegsmarine or merchant navy. See the SA dagger section for more information on the SA. |
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Dagger Information - SA Marine In 1934 members of the SA Marine were issued with a new dagger based upon the standard 1933 SA dagger. It was originally fitted with a black dyed SA grip, you will never encounter ebony wood used on this style dagger, and if you do it would be worth your time to investigate further. Black oxide finished scabbard like what is found on early SS daggers with a clear lacquer finish. The only maker I have ever encountered that had NO traces of clear lacquer was a F. Herder. The SA roundel is standard with the brown enamel. One of the best ways to tell a period SA Marine from a reworked dagger is to inspect the blade tang and look for a twin circle with an anchor inside it. Others have just an anchor and the last one I am aware of has what looks like an arrow pointing toward the blade. The weight is a few grams heavier that a standard blade. Why? I can’t tell you but each one I have seen has had this extra weight to the blade. NO RZM styles are found with this style. This early variation is extremely rare, in all the years I have been at this I have seen less that 10, 100% original period made daggers of this type. The next style is the Gold or copper washed finished fittings style. This again is a standard SA dagger in all respects, but the fittings have had a light wash of a brass looking gold finish or a copper finish. These are not tricky at all. The fittings are done in a way that you can never be fooled if you know this one fact! The inside of the crossguards that abuts the grips inside contours is not finished! It will be just plain old nickel, some will exhibit a small bit of overlapping on the inside edge, on the copper finished it will turn the inside of the fittings jet Black! If you find one with gold finish inside the crossguards it’s a post war done plating with out question! There are also NO RZM period made SA marine daggers. A good point to look for to is that the SA roundel and eagle had the gold or copper finish applied to them, look for traces of either finish on these. It’s rare to find 90% or more but they are out there and can be found. Again the tangs have the same markings as the black on black and add to it the unmarked tang! Scabbards are just like the standard SA 33-style dagger with brown oxide finish and clear lacquer coat. The fittings and screws will have either the gold or copper finish. One point, in all my years at this I have never seen a 100% mint example of this style dagger. The best one could expect to find is 95% and that’s rare! I don’t think that there are more than a few hundred of this type dagger in 80% condition or higher. There are many that are in poor condition I have seen over the years with less than 5% of the plating intact. These are never found with an RZM marked blade! Only early trademarks. From 1938 on the SA Marine company’s were absorbed into Navy units and referred to as a Political Officer, Water Customs and Water Police units. These units also had many former SA men in them. Many were also sent to training camps for the Hitler Youth Marine. As of 1936 many were simply dropped from any service for being unfit. Hangers are standard single straphangers with either a gold or copper finish on the nickel parts, again no RZM hangers will be found that are from the period. As with the hanger the belt loops have either gold or brass or copper D ring. Edited by Bruce Petrin
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