U.S. Navy signal lamp?

[nhetzer]

Hello all. I am once again casting out the net to see what comes back. I need help identifying something I have. Well, I know WHAT it is but I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out WHEN it's from. I have a deck mounted Navy signal lamp. To be clear, it's the kind of signaling device that you flip the shutters up and down on for ship to ship communications. The only markings on it are the GE logo in the center on the back and "U.S. NAVY TYPE 12-G-31" across the top back edge. Granted, like all things Navy, it has been painted about 1,000 times and there could be some more markings on it. Does anyone know anything about these as far as what era it may be from? Or can anyone at least point me in the right direction as to where to find some data on this? Any help at all would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Information

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[nhetzer]

This is the light. Sorry for the poor pics. It was late and in my garage.





Here's the GE logo, the flash kept washing it out. I apologize for it being so dark.



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[Trainman41]

Hi
I'm new to this site, and I just read your posts about your Navy Signal Lamp. I just wondered if by chance this item is for sale? My dad who is a Navy World War II veteran,
was a Signal Man in the navy. I always it would be so cool to find one of these old signal lamps and give it to him as a gift. I know they are very hard to find, and most people do not want to part with them.

Please let me know if your signal lamp is for sale...and if so..what sort of price would
we be talking about. thanks

Sincerely,

Jeff Butler
Ontario, California

[nhetzer]

Hello Jeff and welcome to the forum. First I want to say that thinking to do something like this for your Dad is pretty great. My old man was Navy too and I know how sentimental he can get about his time serving.
As for the light itself, I may consider selling it. There would be a few issues, first would be deciding whether or not I am ready to part with it of course, second would be determining cost and of course if we successfully cross those bridges there is the question of how to get it to you. I'm waaaaay out here in Ohio, and this thing is pretty heavy so shipping would be a challenge and possibly expensive because of the weight. If you're still interested after considering those factors, we can explore this further.
I'll give you a little bit of info on the light. The pros: the glass is all intact with no cracks and all the parts move freely as they should. The cons: one of the handles that flashes the signal shutters open and closed is bent but doesn't affect function at all. I've thought about bending it back but just haven't got around to doing it.
At some point in it's life it was wired to take a standard sized bulb and a switch was installed on the bottom of the light. The wires have since been cut and I would replace the fixture inside bit it all could be done with parts from Lowe's for probably around $20 if that. All in all it's definitely pretty salty and still has the original haze grey paint on it, in multitudes of layers in true Navy fashion. The paint is chipping and it just really needs to be cleaned up. Having said all if that, it's a great piece of history and, you're right, very hard to come by. The Navy doesn't exactly just let these walk off of ships. This one came to me through a retired Senior Chief I was stationed with, who got it from a base that was decommissioning. So straight from the Navy to him, then to me.
My apologies for the long email but I wanted to give you all the info. Thanks for the interest and take care.
Regards,
Nick


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[Trainman41]

Hi Nick

Nice to hear back from you, and thanks for the quick response. I was talking with my dad one day, and I had ask him what his job was when he was in the Navy. When he told me he was a Signal Man...I started thinking about those old signal lamps. I wasn't even sure there were any of them around anymore, because I didn't know if the Navy still used those
in this computer age.

So I thought I would do a search on the Internet, and that's what led me to this site. I don't have any idea of what one of these signal lamps would be worth. I assume its a collector's item now, which I sure makes it worth much more then navy scrap..which
is probably what it was considered, when they were taken out of service. Also if you decided
you wanted to part with it...I assume it's pretty heavy...and the shipping charges to go from Ohio to California might be a little high. ( I was born in Ohio...in a town called ..Defiance...left there when I was 5 years old)

Anyway...give it some thought...and if you want to consider selling it sometime, get back to me. thanks

Jeff

[nhetzer]

Hey Jeff,
I've been scouring the web trying to determine a price for this signal light. I've found some closed auctions on stuff that was similar but not quite what I have. I found one on eBay that is the type that has to be mounted on the bulkhead (wall) of a ship and has no stand. That one is priced at $1,800. I'm not sure what I should be asking for this so I'm going to pass the buck to you and just say make me an offer. Don't worry, you won't offend me but since you are the one spending the money it makes sense to figure out if this is outside of whatever your budget may be and if we can work something out. Let me know what you think. Take care and enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.
Regards,
Nick Hetzer


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[Trainman41]

Hi Nick

Just read your reply. I hope you are enjoying the Memorial Day weekend. I'm taking it pretty easy, just watched the Indy 500 earlier today...and plan on catching the NASCAR race at Charlotte this evening...yeah..I'm a car guy...LOL


I looked on E-bay and also saw the same signal lamp you mentioned...the one for $1800.00
When I saw that one...I knew that was way out of my price range...so I figure my idea of
finding one of those lights I could afford wasn't going to happened. But I kept looking around and that's how I found this site and you thread.

As for making an offer..well I'm on Social Security...so I don't have a lot of disposible income...and you said don't be afraid to make an offer, and you wouldn't be offended
so...since I don't really know the worth of this item..I will start this off with an offer for
$300 including shipping? What are your feelings on that? Don't be afraid to be honest
I realize we don't know what the shipping price would be for this item. Do you think there is someway you might be able to weigh the light...and then we could check with UPS /FEDEX and see what kind of price we are looking at for shipping. I will wait your
answer. thanks

Jeff

[nhetzer]

Hey Jeff,
Thanks for getting back to me and I appreciate the offer. Unfortunately I already have $1,400 and a gun worth about $250 invested in the original purchase of this light. And based on the precursory checks I've done with my contact at DHL $300 will most likely not even cover reliable shipping. I would be willing to let it go for somewhere between $1,200 and $1,500 but I can't cover shipping. I wish circumstances were different for us both and I didn't have so much invested already. I understand not having the extra income which is the only reason I'm even parting with this (I'm in the same boat). This is probably an item I should be looking at selling locally as the shipping will deter most people from being interested, especially after what I'm going to have to get for it in order to sleep at night. I appreciate your interest though and if I stumble across a similar one in my Internet travels I will most certainly save your emails and forward it on to you. Sorry I couldn't be more help!
Regards,
Nick


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[Trainman41]

Hello Nick,

Thanks for the quick reply. Well...I'm afraid your price is way beyond my budget. I'm not
saying the lamp isn't worth what you are asking, but I'm afraid I just can't afford it, especially your price doesn't include shipping.

It was a good idea at the time, finding one of these lamps for my dad, but I guess it just wasn't a realistic dream. Thanks again for all your help on this and you have a great day, and take care

Sincerely,

Jeff

[JGaynor]

Small hand held version. Not US but the price may be right
http://www.deutscheoptik.com/product...oducts_id=2294

The same site has a large Japanese ship mounted model, Brass and all polished but it's well over $2k fob CA.

Regards,
Jim