US WWII US Navy Aviation Mae West, Identfied, Reversible, 1943
This item is listed for historical interest only. It was listed on our site previously but has been sold and is no longer available for purchase.
Sold for: $225.00

Original era manufacture. A very sound example of a US NAVY issue mae west flotation vest named to one C.W.Arnott. Doing a bit of online research we find a Lt.JG Charles W Arnott in 1945 assigned to CVE-31, the USS Prince William, an escort/training aircraft carrier of the US Navy. The vest is interesting for several reasons, one for it's very solid condition and more importantly for the fact that one side is painted battleship gray, an act which completely eliminated one of the main purposes of the vest, namely that of survival recognition from the air. The thought that comes to my mind is that the painted side would be worn during missions into Japanese controlled territory, making it difficult for the enemy to spot you. Just a thought. The vest is complete except for the compressed air cylinders, is USN marked and 1943 dated. There is a packet of life jacket Shark chaser tied to the neck opening, this was attached to the vest at the time of our purchase. Excellent research potential.