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Hi again,

I sent the wrong link, and in doing so proved Peter's point since I think
LOW in the auction's description as on the frame, is the LOWE that is
referred to in the Plath history as presented by Peter and Kieran.

However, here is the link to the Navy MK III I intended to send and it
states the manufacturer as Scientific Instruments of Milwaukee. It is at a
higher price, but still an excellent buy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2588621883



Joel


----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Jacobs" 
To: 
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 12:13 AM
Subject: Re: C+P NAVY MK III


> Hi Kieran,
>
> Hi Kieran, and Peter,
>
> I can assure you that the original Navy MK III Mod O sextants were made by
> David White & Co, and/or Scientific Instruments, both of Milwaukee, WI.
This
> would be around 1974-76.  It is possible that  Lowe came into the picture
> ten or more years later if the other two companies went out of business as
I
> think they did.
>
> Here is one of the best buys on ebay in the recent past. Unfortunately, I
> was called away for a long distance tele, and missed out on the final
> bidding.  I just wrote the buyer as to who the manufacturer was. BTW,
there
> was no Lowe making sextants when I was active in the business which as I
> said previously ended in NOV 1978, but I was aware of the other two.
>
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3705509316&category=37971
> &ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:1
>
> Note that this is an aluminium frame sextant just like the one that will
> sell on ebay this week. I know I told Stacy and may have told the group,
> that I used one when I was a DV on board the USS Caron, DD 970 for a brief
> cruise the Summer before last. If I did tell you that, I also mentioned I
> couldn't get any officers or quartermasters to take any sights with me.
And
> Stacy followed up with a directive from the Commander of the Atlantic
Fleet
> giving the requirements of how many celestial sights should be taken
daily.
>
> Joel
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kieran Kelly" 
> To: 
> Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 6:38 PM
> Subject: Re: C+P NAVY MK III
>
>
> > Joel,
> >
> > A quote from the Plath company history tends to support Peter's view
> > although it is somewhat ambiguous:
> >
> > "At the beginning of 1953 Johannes Boysen, together with the well known
> > American navigator, P V H Weems, founded in Washington the firm of Weems
&
> > Plath, whose main purpose was to step up the sale of C Plath sextants in
> the
> > USA."
> >
> > The history points out that this association only lasted 11 years when C
> > Plath pulled out, however it did not insist on a name change.
> >
> > The history continued, " As the US navy instited that the instruments
used
> > by it should be manufactured in the USA, C Plath granted the firm of
Lowe
> > Inc in New York a manufacturing licence for the C Plath sextants. Up to
> this
> > day all Mark 111 sextants for the US Navy have been manufactured by this
> and
> > a successor firm under this licence."
> >
> > These words were written in 1987 so according to the company's offical
> > history Mark 111 sextants were indeed Plath's made under licence in the
> USA.
> > Possibly David White was the successor firm to Lowe Inc that is referred
> to
> > in the history. What date did your company pitch for the business?
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Kieran Kelly
> > Sydney
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Navigation Mailing List
> > [mailto:NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM]On Behalf Of Joel Jacobs
> > Sent: Sunday, 21 March 2004 8:34 AM
> > To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM
> > Subject: Re: C+P NAVY MK III
> >
> >
> > Peter,
> >
> > I don't know where you got your information, but my company, Nautech
> > Maritime Corp of Chicago, Il,  bid on the Navy contract for the MK III,
> and
> > it went to David White of Milwaukee. They also had a subsidiary,
survivor
> or
> > successor company called something like Scientific Instruments,
Milwaukee,
> > WI which made the Mod 2.
> >
> > You can read about this experience at:
> >
> >
>
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2561519492&category=37971
> >
> > I was away from sextants from 1978 until just recently, but I was of the
> > opinion that the W&H sextant was made by Cassens & Plath. I will not bet
> the
> > farm on that one, but I will on who made the USN MK III Mod 0 unless
what
> > you say occurred while we were out of the country, 1978 - 1984, and
during
> > the following years when I was not involved with sextants in any manner.
> >
> > Joel Jacobs
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: 
> > To: 
> > Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 4:07 PM
> > Subject: Re: C+P
> >
> >
> > > To add my two cents to Kieren and Robert's explaination of C. Plath's
> > > relationship to Cassens & Plath, there was a similar situation with
> Weems
> > &
> > > Plath of Washington, DC (later Annapolis, MD). After World War II, C.
> > Plath
> > > went through a very difficult rebuilding period. With the decline of
> > German
> > > shipping, they looked to gain a foothold in the US market. In 1953
they
> > > formed a partnership with P.V.H. Weems to sell C. Plath sextants and
> > > compasses, calling the venture Weems & Plath.
> > >
> > > Since the US Navy would not purchase foreign-made instruments, Lowe,
> Inc.,
> > > of New York was contracted to build sextants under license from C.
Plath
> > and
> > > bearing the Weems & Plath name. The US Navy Mark III sextant was a
> > > Lowe-built Plath.
> > >
> > >  -- Peter

   

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