German WWII Silver Spoon Set from U-2513 Officer’s Mess

Description

This set of six silver-plated spoons comes in its original lined case, bearing the label of
manufacturer “Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik” in Nurnberg. Each spoon is marked on
the back with silver stamp and “90 Hartglanz” with Eagle over swastika in a circle above the
letter “M”. The front of each handle is marked “U-2513″. These spoons would have been
used in the officer’s mess aboard the submarine to serve the five officers assigned to the
boat, both in port and at sea. Their high quality shows how well the Third Reich treated its
officers, even at a time when its cause was already doomed. A rare surviving original set,
as most of these are now feeding the fish.

U-2513 was a Type XXI submarine of 1621 tons surface displacement. Made by Blohm &
Voss in Hamburg, her keel was laid down on July 19, 1944, and commissioned on October
12, 1944. Due to the Allies’ complete mastery of the seas by the time of her
commissioning, she served no war patrols. On April 27, 1945, famous U-Boat ace Erich
Topp took command of U-2513, but surrendered his command at Horten Naval Base in
Norway on May 9, 1945. In August of that year the boat was turned over to the United
States. A year later, U-2513 was overhauled in Charleston, SC and later used in testing
both submarine design and anti-submarine tactics. In November, 1946, President Harry S.
Truman went aboard the boat when it submerged to a depth of 440 feet. On October 7,
1951, the sub was sunk by rocket fire from the destroyer USS Robert A. Owens about 70
miles west of Key West, Florida in 213 feet of water. Since 785 of the 1,162 U-Boats built
during WWII were sunk during the war, the fact that U-2513 served no war patrols is
probably the only reason these spoons survive. One of these spoons could very well have
been used by President Truman when he went on the boat.