The latest recruit to our stable of workwear is the Shipyard Insulated Jacket; a hardy technical outer layer inspired by iconic US Navy deck jackets. Read on to discover the story of the wartime mariner’s coats that inspired our performance-driven workwear made for the modern coastal explorer.
The Shipyard: New Take On A Naval Classic
04.09.25
3 min read
Written by Danny Burrows
Modern photograpy by Abbi Hughes
Born from a Storm...
In the early 1940s much of Europe was occupied by the Axis alliance, with only a frail caravan of supply ships and escorts crossing the North Atlantic to keep the Allies afloat.
Pitted against the harshest of sea conditions and constant harrying by wolf-packs of U-boats, the convoys seamen struggled to stay warm and dry in molten wool peacoats, oil skins parkas and bibs. These relics of past wars were no match for the extremes of the North Atlantics ‘Black Pit’ or the dynamics of modern warfare. A new technical jacket was desperately needed.
Initially the US Army Tanker, was modified for the high seas but perished quickly. Then in 1943, the new N1 deck jacket was issued, featuring a water-resistant Bedford cord shell, in-set ribbed cuffs, zip and buttoned front and a double-faced Alpaca wool lining that stayed warm even when wet.
The N1 was the pinnacle of natural material engineering and would become the workhorse of Allied sailors and the envy of soldiers across the theatre of war. Born from a necessity to weather a storm it would remain the mainstay of the US Navy’s battle wear into the 1960’s.
From Military Workhorse to Style Icon...
As the war drew to a close the Allied navies demobbed, with crews taking their trophy deck jackets with them to be repurposed for civvy street. From farms to factory floors the jackets’ unmatched build continued to solve the universal problem of staying warm in the worst of weathers.
The US government was also lumbered with a mountain of surplus kit, including N1 in their thousands, and while many were destroyed, an equal amount were sold off through the War Assets Administration. Cheap, rugged and representative of a war fought by their fathers they would become the uniform of ‘50s and ‘60s counterculture - military insignia replaced by motorcycle gang patches and the protest badges of a rebelling youth.
They would also go on to clothe a new generation of outdoor pioneers - from the trad walls of the Yosemite to the edgy corners of New York city the Navy deck jacket had become an icon of iconoclastic style.
Rebuilt For New Frontiers...
Drawing inspiration from the deck jackets of the Atlantic convoys we built the Shipyard tough for bitter winters on and around the seas, replacing Bedford cord for an advanced, hardwearing 2-layer fabric with a PFAS Free DWR; and the alpaca lining with a 100% recycled REPREVE®️ insulation made from ocean-bound plastic.
Combined with weather-excluding double closure front and cosy cuffs the silhouette that worked on carrier decks now works from pre-dawn surf checks to post-session beach fires, from the Helford to the Hebrides and everywhere in-between.
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