Morse Diving Equipment knife

[Ripster]

Okay long story somewhat shortened . This Divers knife has been a conversation with a fellow gun vender/ dealer who took it on trade . It’s either reproduction or real . That’s the real ? . They are not military as he was told and we’ve done a little research and found out they were/ are used in hard hat diving . And of course have been reproduced/ faked ,etc. Anyone have experience or knowledge to share that would Help Jed and I figure out what he has . Don’t have the knife in hand and sorry about pics but best could do on the fly here .
Any help is appreciated. Thank you

[RobesonsRme.com]

Those were Navy issued at one time, maybe not that maker , but by someone.

Pretty sure it’s mentioned in Levine’s Guide.

[zzyzzogeton]

It would be very difficult to determine if this one was a WW2 era knife or later. The company assumed that name (Morse Diving Equipment Co., Inc. in 1940 and remained the company name/engraving until it was sold in 1998 and changed the name to simply Morse Diving, Inc. So the knife could have been made anytime between 1940 and 1998. Morse and DESCO were the 2 sources for the US Navy after WW2.

After a another sale or 2 of the company, DESCO, aka Diving Equipment and Supply Company bought the company. DESCO still makes the knives to this day.

[zzyzzogeton]

Those were Navy issued at one time, maybe not that maker , but by someone.

Pretty sure it’s mentioned in Levine’s Guide.

The companies known to make the knife since 1916 were -
A.J. Morse,
Morse Diving Equipment Co.,
Morse Diving Inc,
A. Schrader's Son,
Schrader,
DESCO,
Vince,
Fisher Spring,
Batteryless Telephone Equipment Co,
Bomar,
Union Cutlery (KABAR).

They were likely made by other companies as well. The above listed companies marked either the knife, the sheath or both. Kabar is an example of knife only marking.

[Ripster]

Charlie and ZZ . Thank you both for the info. Very informative and helpful . Have passed that on to my friend and he’s most Thankful .
Enjoy your day .