Thanks Mike & Ron
Yes, I look at Albertâ??s Portuguese Navy often, Mouth watering nice!
The Portuguese have a great Naval History and reading about their ships, gunboats and submarines is quite interesting. Like most collectors I want to know the history around the guns, not just the guns themselves. Their navy was pretty small around my time of interest ( 1909-1913) so I thought it would be interesting to track down what ships received the lugers. Looking for hints of distribution has been fun but frustrating. Real information is hard to come buy, I sure have learned a lot about their Navy so itâ??s not been a waste of time. I have sent letters to the Portuguese Museums but none have been returned. The one place I have not tried to contact is the armory in Lisbon, if it still exists? They may have records of repairs on the guns and be willing to share that information.
I fear that my inability to talk to them in Portuguese is hampering the research, so if there is someone out there who could help me â??possibly in Portugalâ? it would be greatly appreciated.
We know when the guns were ordered, when they were received and how many of each was made. Their use and distribution is a blank however. I can tell you that the guns I have inspected show very little use (firing). Many show poor prolonged storage but even those when inspected show little if any firing, they do often show much old dried grease. So it is possible that the guns were not issued or used for training but held in reserve. Navy Shore Police or Royal Guards/Marines may be the answer and would explain why no pictures can be found of ship sailors using them. We may simply be looking in the wrong place.
All theories of course!
If any one has information on these guns particularly their use and distribution (old pictures) it would be appreciated. It is important that history be preserved and the best way to do that is to share the information. The guns are now over 100 years old, and so is the original documentation that came with them.
Thanks again
Vern