Germany, Kriegsmarine. A 13th U-Boat Flotilla Trench Art Plaque

(13. Unterseebootsflottille Gedenktafel). Constructed of hand-carved and lightly varnished wood, the obverse consisting of a shield bearing a raised depiction of a Viking longship cutting throughout waves in a style used as an emblem by the 13th U-Boat Flotilla (based in Trondheim, Norway), the reverse topped by two metal rivets for the accommodation of a hanging string, retaining an early postwar label bearing a handwritten dedication from a collector, otherwise unmarked, measuring 13.5 cm (w) x 18 cm (h), demonstrating a crack to the lower left side of the obverse, a superb example of Kriegsmarine trench art, possibly carved by a sailor in Allied captivity, in better than very fine condition.