Early war DESCO (Diving Equipment & Salvage
Corp.) Mark V Tag. Note it says "MARK V" in the center and 'CORP"
instead of "CO. INC.".Helmet Identification Tag Page
Often the only way to authenticate an old helmet is by its tag. One should always be wary of taking an ID tag at face value. The most popular replica helmets have believable tags on them. It is not too difficult to forge a tag.
DESCO used three different tags for USN Mark V helmets. All three are etched sheet Brass with a black enamel background. The first two are referred to as football tags due to their shape. We have seen a few early war helmets with the Corp. tag on them. Our best guess is those tags were made incorrectly as the company name was "Diving Equipment & Salvage Company Incorporated", not "Diving Equipment & Salvage Corporation". The press of war production most likely compelled them to use the incorrect tags to meet delivery deadlines and not waste Brass. We don't have much in the way of documentation from the period so this is speculation on our part. In 2004 we worked on a breastplate that was dated 3-25-43 that had the Corp tag (see photo below). On our office wall is a photo of a Mark V with the Co. Inc. tag dated 11-1-43. The changeover must have occurred between April and November of 1943. Our estimate is we produced between 550 to 575 Mark V helmets in 1943. This estimate is based our our recording of helmets still in existence we know about. Our list has #214 dated 3-25-43 and #773 dated 12-21-43.
The USN specs actually called for oval tags like the third one. When DESCO changed its name from salvage to supply the new tags were designed to conform. The deviation of the earlier tags from the specification may be due to DESCO having tags for other helmets with the football shape. Adjusting the Mark V tag to this shape would allow for using a single blank and would save tooling and material, both necessary during the war.
Early war DESCO (Diving Equipment & Salvage
Corp.) Mark V Tag. Note it says "MARK V" in the center and 'CORP"
instead of "CO. INC.".
Late war DESCO (Diving Equipment & Salvage
Co. Inc.) Mark V Tag. Note it says "MARK V - MOD 1" in the center.
Post war to current DESCO Mark V tag.
Large generic DESCO tag. This tag could be
used on any helmet. It is currently used on the three and four light Commercial
helmets,
the Nuclear helmet, and the Fisheries helmets. This tag is also used on the Abalone, and Agar helmets.
Browne Commercial tag currently used on the
Browne Commercial helmet.
DESCO Browne Sponge helmet tag in sheet
Brass. Use of this tag ended with the supply of tags about ten years ago.
Cast DESCO Browne Sponge helmet tag made to replace the above tag is currently
in use.
Cast DESCO Air Hat Tag is soldered to the left
side of the snout. This tag was also used on an Abalone helmet that was stolen
while
on its way to Houston for a ADC Underwater convention in the mid 90's.
Cast DESCO "Salvage" tag was used on the
Commercial helmets and Utility helmets. It is currently used on the Shallow
Water helmets.
Small generic DESCO tag used on miscellaneous
products like air compressors.
Forgeries
This is a cast remake of the early Mark V
tag . The original is sheet Brass.
This
is a remake of a Morse Mark V tag with a fairly obvious flaw. (Clue: photo is
not out of focus)
This tag is from a really bad Mark V
replica. The helmet wouldn't fool anyone so the tag shouldn't either.
Some other manufacturers tags
Chinese
John Date
Alfred Hale
C. E. Heinke
Japanese
TOA
?
Korean
Miller Dunn
Morse
C. H. Sanborn
Schrader
Siebe Gorman
