WWII, 1941-1950, MAX BERMAN, RKO STUDIOS, MOVIE PROP, USN, UNITED STATES NAVY, SUBMARINE, USS Ronquil, SS-396, PATCH
This RKO Studios, Max Berman, hand-painted canvas squadron patch bears the emblem of the USN, USS Ronquil, SS-396, Submarine. Approx. 5-1/4" in diameter. Condition is considered GOOD with minimal surface/stain/edge wear. Moderate edge fraying with no tears, chips or separations. Colors and imagery are still bold, bright and attractive. "RKO Radio Pictures" and or "Max Berman & Sons Costume and Props" ink stamps on the reverse.
USS Ronquil (SS-396), was a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy named after the ronquil, a spiny-finned fish found along the northwest coast of North America. It has a single dorsal fin and a large mouth and resembles the tropical jawfish.
Ronquil was laid down 9 September 1943 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, in Kittery, Maine; launched 27 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. C. M. Elder; and commissioned 22 April 1944, Lieutenant Commander Henry S. Monroe in command.
After shakedown off the New England coast, Ronquil sailed for Hawaii. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 July 1944; and, after preparatory training, sailed on her first war patrol (31 July – 8 September 1944) in the northeastern Formosa-Sakishima Gunto area. On 24 August the submarine sank two attack cargo ships: Yoshida Maru No. 3 (4,646 tons) and Fukurei Maru (5,969 tons). Ronquil’s second war patrol, from 30 September to 28 November 1944, was carried out in two phases. She first operated with a coordinated submarine attack group in the Bungo Suido area, and then joined six other submarines to carry out an antipatrol ship sweep off the Bonin Islands.
On her third war patrol, from 1 January to 14 February 1945, Ronquil patrolled the Bonins and did lifeguard duty in that area for Army bombers hitting the Japanese home islands. Her fourth war patrol from 11 March to 23 April 1945, brought her no worthwhile enemy targets but resulted in the rescue of 10 Army aviators from a B-29 bomber downed between the Bonins and Japan. The submarine's fifth and last patrol from 19 May to 26 July 1945, took her into the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.
The end of the war in the Pacific found Ronquil off Pearl Harbor, training for another war patrol. She returned to San Diego in the fall of 1945 and engaged in training exercises off the California coast.
History and Background Information for Collectors:
In WWI a young American ambulance driver in France named Walt Disney was exposed, for the first time, to a new form of art adorning the cowls of trucks and the sides of airplanes. This art form later became known as "nose art". Disney was quick to realize the morale boosting effects of this art form among the troops, and it was an experience Disney kept in the back of his mind after he returned to the United States in 1918. Disney went on to establish himself as the premier cartoonist of the era, and in 1939, the U.S. Navy came knocking. The Navy asked Disney to draw up a mascot to paint on one of their new ships. Disney came up with a bumble bee in a sailor's hat, wearing boxing gloves. The Naval unit involved was so pleased with the design, that they adopted it as their unit insignia and began painting it on their jackets and other vehicles. Soon, the rest of the armed forces caught wind of Disney's creation, and shortly thereafter Walt Disney was swamped with requests from units asking for their own mascot.
Walt Disney recruited the help of six of his top artists to fill the demand for unit mascots. With the brainstorming of the whole Disney staff, Walt and his six artists went to work drawing up mascots for the armed services. The first two mascots produced by Disney in WWII went to the "Eagle Squadron" of the Royal Air Force, a unit of American volunteers flying for the British prior to American involvement in the war, and to the famed "Flying Tigers", another volunteer force operating out of China. Walt Disney actually encouraged the use of his famous cartoon characters in this manner by the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war. He even set up a special art department at his studio to fill requests for such designs by units serving both in the U.S. and overseas.
After America's official entrance in the war, Disney and his staff worked tirelessly creating new designs for our fighting men. By 1945 the Disney group had created over 1,200 logos featuring nearly every critter that could swim, fly, crawl or slither, from owls to apes to octopi. Hundreds of new characters were born during the war years in Disney's studio, including nearly 150 new dog and cat creations. The most popular character by far though was Donald Duck, who was found on more insignia for more different units than any other Disney cartoon. Conversely, Peg Leg Pete of 603rd Squadron fame was one of the least used Disney characters in the war. Another notable character from Disney was surprisingly absent on American insignia, Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney didn't want the friendly and loveable Mickey to be associated with war and it's ugliness. So, Mickey Mouse was never officially used as a unit mascot during the war. (It is interesting to note that German Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland did however sport Mickey Mouse as his own personal insignia throughout the war.)
Warner Brothers soon joined the war effort as well adorning insignias and equipment with Daffy Duck (as we find with the 600th Squadron), Bugs Bunny, and others. Between Disney and Warner Brothers, just about every outfit in the armed forces was sporting a cartoon mascot of some sort. Many units also opted for more sinister mascots such as Grim Reapers, Devils, the Skull and Crossbones, etc. Before long planes, boats, jeeps, tanks, jackets, dinner plates, stationary, and just about anything else you could print an image on were soon adorned with these proud unit crests.
Some collectors claim the RKO patches were produced by RKO Radio Pictures in conjunction with Max Berman & Sons during the years 1941 to 1945, making them authentic wartime insignia. This theory seems logical as RKO Radio Pictures was a major distributor of Disney films and merchandise at the time.
Other collectors challenge that shortly after the war, RKO came into possession of a large quantity of squadron patches, and had their prop artists (Max Berman & Sons) copy each insignia and warehouse them for future use in the movies. Those that suggest this theory claim the RKO-Max Berman patches are, in fact, these studio copies made shortly after the war. While this theory is also a possibility, there are RKO marked patches for nearly every unit that ever saw service in the Air Corps, including various flight schools, air warden/ Civil Air Patrol units, even gunnery and navigation schools. It is highly unlikely that RKO Radio Pictures would have planned on producing a movie so monumental it would include basic training schools and the Civil Air Patrol.
What is known about the RKO-Max Berman patches, however, is that they were produced sometime between 1941 and 1950. RKO began to experience financial problems in 1948, and beginning then, the studios were bought and sold several times. By 1950 they had dropped the "RKO Radio Picture" title (as is found on all of the patches) in favor of the "RKO Pictures" title. In 1955 Howard Hughes bought RKO, merged it with General Tire creating "RKO-General" and micro-managed it into the ground.
The Army Air Corps continued to use Disney and Warner Brothers logos to identify units after the end of the war. In 1947 the new "United States Air Force" was officially born. Shortly after the birth of the Air Force, the top brass sat down and decided that cartoon characters were too light-hearted for fighting men, and the use of cartoon mascots was banned except for a few special units. With the new orders from the top, and the Cold War looming, the new Air Force turned to more traditional military heraldry, and thus died the wonderful era of the cartoon mascot.
Today, original squadron patches of any sort are extremely rare finds, including the mysterious RKO patches. Original patches showing a Disney character are highly prized collectibles among both militaria and Disneyana collectors. Many were made, but few still exist today, and nobody seems to know where they came from or where they all went. Maybe someone will remember how and where they got theirs during the war.
There are many mysteries great and small from World War Two that remain unanswered to this day. This patch is one of the RKO patches that have perplexed historians and collectors for quite a few years. The mystery surrounding this patch and others like it begins with its place of manufacture – RKO Radio Pictures. The first question that is often asked is why RKO would be producing patches with Disney characters on them. Actually, this is not that big a stretch since RKO was the original film distributor for Walt Disney so there was a history between them.
The second question that arises is exactly when and why were these patches made. There is apparently no surviving record in the RKO archives that mention the patches being made. Some people theorize that they were made as film props after the war but this seems hardly likely since there were patches for hundreds of units made by RKO many of which were extremely obscure. Also, patches for many of the now famous Tuskegee Airmen units were included by RKO in their effort and it is a sad sign of those times but one can hardly picture any studio producing a film about or featuring these all-black units in the 1940s or 50s.
It should be noted that all of these patches bear two stamps on their reverse side. One is that of RKO Radio Pictures Studio Costume and Props Department and the other is of Max Berman & Sons Costumes and Props – a costume/prop house closely associated with RKO for many years. At first, these stamps may lead one to believe that they are simply old movie props but it has been proposed that RKO produced the patches as part of their contribution to the national war effort. There is no evidence that these patches were ever distributed to the military.
Actually, the RKO stamp offers a clue to the date of manufacture. RKO Radio Pictures dropped the “Radio” part of their name in 1950 after being bought by Howard Hughes which means that these patches were all made prior to that date. So they could not have been made for film use before that date as many propose. If they were mere props one would assume that they would have been used in films but to the best of my knowledge examples of these RKO patches have never appeared on the silver screen.
It has also been proposed that these patches were intended as a wartime collectible/premiums that were to have been distributed to the public by the studio in some manner.
Personally, I believe that these canvas patches were produced by RKO and Max Berman as part of their contribution to the war effort – probably as a premium – but for one reason or another the patches were never distributed and remained in storage for many years. Then sometime during the 1970s or 80s these old stocks were sold off and entered the resale market. At the time many of the major studios while undergoing restructuring and reorganization sold off their vast costume and prop collections as did some of the major costume shops such as Western Costume.
Note: This canvas patch is NOT being sold as an original WWII squadron patch. It was never issued to military units and was just part of the RKO studio inventory. It appears unused, and was probably never used in a movie/TV production.
RKO Radio Pictures Studios
Costume & Prop Dept
180 Gower St
Hollywood
MAX BERMAN & SONS
Costume & Props
6330 SANTA MONICA BLVD
HOLLYWOOD