I have tried to email several German companies that made various items during World War two and I have never received an answer ! Many companies during this time used " imported labor " and do not wish to talk about this time period . I feel all this china is fake due to the fact that there are obvious spelling errors that the real manufacturer would never make . Another reason is the sudden flood of items for sale , so many items all at once and at a steady stream means Reproductions ! I also cannot see the china maker putting a " U " number on the cup or plate that would be very time consuming and serve no purpose , these items were designed to be cheap expendibles , after the first depth charge attack the boat would need some new china , would the KM depot stock china with each u-boat number on it ? This is very impractical . Once you replace the cups and plates with no number plates what was the sense of putting numbers on them in the first place ? In my over 30 years of collecting KM items I have never seen any u-boat china with a "u" number on it . The ash tray with a u-boat number on it ? If there was no smoking aboard why would you need an ash tray ? If you could only smoke on deck why not flick the ash into the wind ? U-boat crews would carry a china ash tray just so they would not pollute the sea ???? ;-) Another thing to look at is the same common poor engraving on these special rare items given to ( it seems ) every u-boat commander ! Sloppy and crude engraving is a sure sign of a cheap fake . It seems that the various items may be made by different makers but they all used the same amature engraver !!The u-boat flag !!! how could they all be 100% originals ?? there are more original flags on ebay or on the open market than was ever launched !!! I have a flag that has been in my family since 1945 and the red is faded and not bright red and the white is a off white/brownish in color and the black is also faded and not a vivid black and the material has sharp creases from being folded for 60 years , why are all the 100% originals so bright and no fold marks ? why do they escape the natural aging process of ink and cloth like everything else in life ? because they were made yesterday !!! Just some things to look for when buying 100 % original u-boat items !