Odd question for ya all. What uniform did US Navy Chief Petty Officers wear in WWII? Was it khaki or dungaree?

I realize this is Hollywood, but in the movie PT-109, we see a CPO yelling at some sailors painting the side of the boat and he's wearing dungarees. Also, the same character is wearing dungarees when he gets a bucket of oil dumped on his head by LTjg Kennedy.

I thought CPO's started wearing khaki's around 1940 or so. Any ideas?

Steve

I believe they wore khaki uniforms during WWII.

Here you go Steve, three "working chiefs"from 1945:






The khaki's were dress.

Excellent. Thanks, Dave.

No problem Steve, I think I glombed them off of Kirt at the Navy site.

Nice pirtures.

i have a Bluejackets Manual from 1940. No pics, but echoes what has been posted regarding use of dungarees, from the book (some lines omited for brevity):

"Dungarees of the prescribed pattern may be worn by enlisted men when engaged in work by reson of its nature would soil their other uniforms.... pertains to... the deck force when scaling or painting ship or handling stores; to the crews of repair, supply and fuel ships during working hours or when handling stores or fuel.... It is prescribed for those on watch, on duty or while engaged in the aforementioned cases of work."

Hope this helps a bit! cheers, james

I'd like to find one of those editions.
I have a copy of the current "The Bluejacket's Manual" by Thomas J. Cutter. ISBN 1-55750-208-0

Search EvilBay, they turn up all the time.

One additional question for anyone.

I modified a Masterbox figure for use as a USN Chief. I had to file down the peaked combination cap so that it looked more like a USN version. Came out fairly well, I think, but here lies my next question. What color were the combination caps worn by CPO's? What I remember from PT-109 was the cap being white. I also recall a scene from the Green Berets were a Chiefs hat was white. Wish I could find some of the old uniform posters.

Steve

Check the 3rd photo Steve, 2 are wearing khaki, one is wearing white.
Was probably left up to the chief to decide which one was in the worse shape to use with his working uniform. Also notice in the 1st and 2nd photos, the mixture, some khaki, a white and an assorment of the p^ss cutter for good measure.

yep, ebay has them often and cheap, i bought that one years ago for less than 10us$