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German Kriegsmarine Sold-Libellensextant 1941 (SEXT14)

Plath

German Kriegsmarine Sold-Libellensextant 1941 (SEXT14)

On Auction at eBay

This unique collectible resides in The Fulford Collection and is on auction on eBay April 22-25, 2021 with bidding some items extended thru May 1. Please visit our eBay Store to place a bid.

Here is WWII-era German Navy aeronautical sextant kit.

According to collector George Fulford's notes:

This is another aircraft sextant jewel in more ways than one. The first thing that strikes you is the manual that has the Nazi Swastika on the front and stamped over it is a British stamp dated 1946 saying it was OK to ship this item out of Germany.

Germany had little use for celestial navigation with its Luftwaffe. Most of their bombers were short-range aircraft and depended heavily on DR. The Kriegsmarine was a different story. These long-range anti-convoy bombers and seaplanes needed celestial fixes and they used, what I consider, the most elegant bubble sextant of its time. The design wasn’t totally original, as one can trace a British influence, but the end product is sophisticated and extremely well engineered, as one would expect from Plath. It comes inside a compact metal case. Later models came in a wooden case.

The operational drawback to this quality sextant was that it wasn’t something you could knock around and still keep working like the RAF or the Army Air Corps solutions. It needed to be carefully handled and boxed and took more space than ours did. But, what a beautiful piece of workmanship: no Sten gun ruggedness and simplicity here!


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