REAL WW1 USN MODEL 1917 NAVY CUTLASS SWORD WWI

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Antique original rare ww 1 era USN MODEL 1917 CUTLASS, the last official enlisted mans side arm issued by the united states government , { unless you consider some of those BIG big non regulation theater made, fighting knifes, that were made & issued during world war two / ww2 } . ----------------------------- --------- A beautiful piece with blued metal parts, it featured a curved, grooved blade with a clipped point. The wooden grips were secured by brass rivets . This sword was 29 ¾ inches long, of which 24 7/8 inches made up the blade, which was about 1 1/2 inches wide at its base. it is marked " " HEMBRUG "....... it comes with its original brown leather scabbard , ............ GREAT CONDITION NOT RUSTED NOT PITTED ,...................... OR BANGED UP ! ------- --------------------- ---- It has been a long time since the ring of cutlass against cutlass has resounded on the quarterdeck of Navy ships. the side arm companion of the usn bluejacket has finally vanished from the racks of Navy ships w it had rested for over 200 years ,...the navy cutlass was officially declared obsolete by the u.s. Navy ,............by NavOrd Inst. 4500-1 in November 1949. ---------- the last documented case of the USN model 1917 cutlass used in battle was back in world war two,.............. during what was perhaps, one of the bravest acts of the war ,... when LIEUTENANT ALBERT L. DAVID USN, Led his eight-man boarding party on to the sinking German U boat ,.....the u 505 , ... armed with model 1917 cutlasses, { they did not want to risk danger to the crew or the 'u boat' ,.... by discharging firearms, in the confined, dank,.... dark,.... quarters of the submarine ,.... Lt. David was the only man armed with a model 1911 colt } ,.... Despite the probability of U-505 Sinking or blowing up at any minute and not knowing what form of resistance they might meet below,............... David and his brave men clambered up the conning tower and then down in to the dark chambers of the enemy ship . -----as the boarders set about collecting the prized German encrypting device, the famous enigma machine, & code books, they disconnected the still ticking demolition charges,....................... closed the open , raging sea valves,................... and plugged the leaks caused by the retreating kriegsmarine sailors ...... By the time the flood of water had been stopped, the U-boat was almost past the point of recovery ,...........the bow was heavily listing , far below the water line , and the entire american crew , may have drowned, and forever entombed on board a enemy 'pig boat' , at the bottom of Davie Jones locker ! ...but the heroic boarding team managed to save her ,.... -------------------- For his part in saving the abandoned submarine, LT. DAVID was awarded the MEDAL OF HONOR ,... Torpedoman's Mate Third Class A. Knispel and Radioman Second Class S. E. Wdowiak, each received the Navy Cross; and Commander Trosino received the Legion of Merit. ----------- you can board the the U 505 today ! , as she now rests safely on display, in Chicago's museum of science and industry .................. I have seen several variations of this rare sword -- some are just marked with the capitol letters USN , one example i have seen was marked "MILSCO" - and agian , this one is marked " HEMBRUG " ,......................... . The 1917 model is a black-metal version of the cutlass, just under 30 inches long with a nearly 25-inch blade that also sports a blood groove and pointed end. "expert sources claim only 2,000 of these were procured after the outbreak of World War I, they went largely unissued," and were still on some older ships during World War II... read more

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