What are the black and yellow devices,we didn't have them when I was in the navy?
twerppoet said:Those are the hydrostatic releases you mentioned. They release the raft from the ship at 10 to 15 ft. if I remember right. There is also a manual release (not shown) just in case you want off the ship before it's under water.
Yours were probably a different design. This particular unit is on a ferry at Seattle. The ones on most Coast Guard ships are more box shaped.
twerppoet said:I'm getting the impression someone collects optics, maybe just a bit.![]()
twerppoet said:These appear to be Kreigsmarine U-Boat binoculars, used on U-Boats, and probably for most of WWII.
There seem to be a few variations, maybe different models/manufacureres through the war, but his pair is probably the 7x50 fixed focus by Carl Zeiss.

They're probably the toughest 7x50 binoculars ever made.No expense was spared in their design and construction.