WWI German U-Boat Valve Identification Plate

Updated August 8, 2026

Metal valve identification plate believed to have originated from a World War I German U-boat. The plate retains several original German-language engraved labels identifying valve functions and lubrication points. A handwritten provenance note affixed to the reverse states that the plate was "probably from one scuttled in Lake Michigan by U.S. Naval Reserves about 1920" and identifies it as a souvenir obtained by Ensign Earl F. Potter, USNR, with a later family notation dated 1984. Measures approximately 5 1/2" x 2 1/2".

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