Chief Petty Officer’s Wool Shirt

This heavy wool shirt came up for sale on eBay in 2011 and for the longest time I couldn’t identify it. Now that I have a more complete catalogue collection I believe it to be the surplus Chief Petty Officer’s Wool Shirt from the 1983 Fall catalogue: “The U.S. Navy’s Chief Petty Officers are generally crusty sailors, tough and knowledgeable. They don’t take nonsense from anybody…except the higher brass. Well, the Navy’s higher brass, in its brassy wisdom, decided to take the wool our of the wool shirts (they went with 100% polyester). With 70% wool blended to 30% nylon and other fabrics, the original shirt had a way of keeping CPOs toasty even when soaking wet, and then drying quickly. The CPO’s loss is our gain. Our sympathies to these now synthetic-clad shivering sailors, but all’s fair in surplus and war.”