1,910 Discussions and CommentsMember since Aug. 4, 2001
Early BOAC Mark 11, with the "white 12" dial and 226Ra luminosity. BTW, while the RAF distributed the Mark 11s to individual Navigators and Pilots, BOAC did not. BOAC issued the Mark 11 to the flight deck crew member in charge of celestial navigation (Navigator or Pilot), as part of the astronavigation kit, only prior to a flight where astronavigation would be required. The kit, including the Mark 11, would be returned to Flight Operations a the end of the flight to be used by the next crew. It is the testimony of one VC10 pilot that the Mark 11 became unreliable at the end of its life because of poor maintenance, and crews started using their personal watches, e.g. the Bulova Accutron tune fork, because of their superior accuracy. This is very much "out of character" for a British institution. Had BOAC showed a similar attitude towards aircraft maintenance the results would have been disastrous. I wonder why this was allowed to happen. RAF, on the other hand, maintained a rigorous maintenance schedule for their Mark 11, which allowed them to perform as required until the early 1980s.
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
The Deck watch shown by Hajo is one of the most amazing cal.67 ones. After W.W. II had ended, many of the German war ships had been sunk by the allied forces. But not all and those ships that returned had their military Deck watch on board. In stead of disposing these watches, some of them were "rescued", ready for a second life. But the Nazi Reich had been eliminated. So the military signs on watches, bearing a Kriegsmarine logo on the dial a swastica and the German Eagle on the back lid, had to be whiped out. The German Navy solved the problem by removing the complete dial, to be replaced by a plain white dial. This meant that also the IWC logo had been removed. The back lid was polished until all stamps had been fainted. Germany became soon a member of NATO and printed the mandatory Nato Stock Number (NSN) (in German "Versorgungsnummer") on the back lid. If one examines such watch, one often can see dents in the back lid. As a result of the polishing the back lid became thinner and more vulnerable. The wooden case with own NSN number and front of plexiglass, had a fixed place on the ship. The officer of duty had to wind it each morning at the same time. Noboddy else was allowed to touch the watch. If the procedure had ended , this was registrated in a log book and signed for. A former Navy officer who has observed this, is one of our forum members : Hajo Thissen. What we know for sure is that this type of watch has been in combat more than 65 years ago. It is unknown how many are around, as IWC played no role in the "conversion" process,meaning that there is no registration in the Archives. During the post war period these mechanical cal. 67 IWC Chronometers lost their role in navigation. More modern instruments (radar) became available. During their second life these master pieces were used as a master clock, indicating the right time, once the power supply of the ship ceased for whatever reason.... Kind regards, Adrian, (alwaysiwc).
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
Here is my cal. 67 Beobachtungsuhr or Deck watch, de-nazified, lying on the back of its wooden container with own NSN number. Note that the dial is blank. The German forces had selected IWC cal. 67 as one of the most sturdy and reliable pocket watches at the start of W.W.II. But also after the war, they continued to use cal 67. Only the last Beobachtungsuhr in 1966 was an IWC cal. 97. Kind regards, Adrian, (alwaysiwc).
Omar Khayyám (Persia XI-XII Century) offered that Time should not only be measured in length but also in width due to the intrinsic difference between a minute or other depending on what is happening to the beholder... I wonder how a watch would look like...
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
In a previous contribution it was explained that the Kriegsmarine used Deck watches of 3 different classes. IWC was categorised in Class II. But when a watch performed extremely well, it could be upgraded to "Extended class II". This meant that they were in practise as accurate as a class I watch. Many of IWC cal.67 were upgraded in such way. The watch depicted here, however, is a class III. It is a civilian cal. 67 sold by IWC in 1937 and registrated in their Archives. Later during W.W. II, the watch was taken over by the Kriegsmarine as the Swiss watch industry could not produce enough Deck watches. On the dial one can see the "KM" sign. We will probably never know how many of these civilian cal. 67 watches have been transformed, as at IWC they were not registrated as military PW's. These watches are thinner and smaller as their sturdy military colleagues.... Kind regards, Adrian, (alwaysiwc).
2,788 Discussions and CommentsMember since Jan. 5, 2002
hajoth Wrote in reply to:
alwaysiwc Wrote: (alwaysiwc).[/QUOTE Hi Adrian, here is a former KM 'Beobachtungsuhr', Cal. 67 with box, which as used same application for navigation later in the Bundesmarine, see NSN.
I believe Heiko can show us a BUND ref. 5301, the last IWC TU which was used in the GE Navy.
BTW, while the RAF distributed the Mark 11s to individual Navigators and Pilots, BOAC did not.
BOAC issued the Mark 11 to the flight deck crew member in charge of celestial navigation (Navigator or Pilot), as part of the astronavigation kit, only prior to a flight where astronavigation would be required. The kit, including the Mark 11, would be returned to Flight Operations a the end of the flight to be used by the next crew.
It is the testimony of one VC10 pilot that the Mark 11 became unreliable at the end of its life because of poor maintenance, and crews started using their personal watches, e.g. the Bulova Accutron tune fork, because of their superior accuracy. This is very much "out of character" for a British institution. Had BOAC showed a similar attitude towards aircraft maintenance the results would have been disastrous. I wonder why this was allowed to happen.
RAF, on the other hand, maintained a rigorous maintenance schedule for their Mark 11, which allowed them to perform as required until the early 1980s.
clepsydra
ad fontes...
Last edited: 3 December, 2012 - 09:56
Germany became soon a member of NATO and printed the mandatory Nato Stock Number (NSN) (in German "Versorgungsnummer") on the back lid. If one examines such watch, one often can see dents in the back lid. As a result of the polishing the back lid became thinner and more vulnerable. The wooden case with own NSN number and front of plexiglass, had a fixed place on the ship. The officer of duty had to wind it each morning at the same time. Noboddy else was allowed to touch the watch. If the procedure had ended , this was registrated in a log book and signed for. A former Navy officer who has observed this, is one of our forum members : Hajo Thissen.
What we know for sure is that this type of watch has been in combat more than 65 years ago. It is unknown how many are around, as IWC played no role in the "conversion" process,meaning that there is no registration in the Archives. During the post war period these mechanical cal. 67 IWC Chronometers lost their role in navigation. More modern instruments (radar) became available. During their second life these master pieces were used as a master clock, indicating the right time, once the power supply of the ship ceased for whatever reason....
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
Here is my cal. 67 Beobachtungsuhr or Deck watch, de-nazified, lying on the back of its wooden container with own NSN number. Note that the dial is blank.
The German forces had selected IWC cal. 67 as one of the most sturdy and reliable pocket watches at the start of W.W.II. But also after the war, they continued to use cal 67. Only the last Beobachtungsuhr in 1966 was an IWC cal. 97.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
Last edited: 17 May, 2013 - 09:58
Regards,
Jeronimo
Omar Khayyám (Persia XI-XII Century) offered that Time should not only be measured in length but also in width due to the intrinsic difference between a minute or other depending on what is happening to the beholder... I wonder how a watch would look like...
In a previous contribution it was explained that the Kriegsmarine used Deck watches of 3 different classes. IWC was categorised in Class II. But when a watch performed extremely well, it could be upgraded to "Extended class II".
This meant that they were in practise as accurate as a class I watch. Many of IWC cal.67 were upgraded in such way. The watch depicted here, however, is a class III. It is a civilian cal. 67 sold by IWC in 1937 and registrated in their Archives. Later during W.W. II, the watch was taken over by the Kriegsmarine as the Swiss watch industry could not produce enough Deck watches. On the dial one can see the "KM" sign. We will probably never know how many of these civilian cal. 67 watches have been transformed, as at IWC they were not registrated as military PW's. These watches are thinner and smaller as their sturdy military colleagues....
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
Best regards
Dimitris
dpsaromialos@gmail.com
Last edited: 6 May, 2013 - 13:26
TU 5301, Cal. 972 with U-10 in the background. Only the birchwood case is missing. ;-)
Kind regards
Hajo
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Last edited: 9 January, 2013 - 09:24
I think, it could be this one !?