bearing the name M. Fogelson and U.S.S. Mississippi in gilt lettering, and depicting the lead naval battleship in the Mississippi class between two American flags.

underside marked Bavaria and signed C.P. Haim.

Height 3 3/4 inches.

The Mississippi was built by the United States Navy between 1904 and 1908. She served with the Atlantic Fleet from 1909 to 1912, when she was placed on reserve. In 1914, the Mississippi was reactivated as an aviation support ship during the occupation of Veracruz, Mexico. She was purchased shortly thereafter by Greece in July 1914 and renamed Kilkis, becoming the flagship of the Greek fleet amidst the country's naval arms race with the Ottoman Empire.

U.S. Army Transfer Service Documents recording the arrivals and departures of enlisted men between 1910 and 1939 indicate that M. Fogelson may refer to Michel Fogelson (1892-1963), or possibly his brother Mair Fogelson, both Russian or Polish immigrants who came to the United States in the early twentieth century and served in the Navy during World War I. According to Military Naturalization Petitions, Fogelson took the Oath of Allegiance on June 28, 1918, in Washington, DC, and was aboard the President Grant with Co. L, 50th Infantry by 1919. Military records connect him to the Grant, the Princess Matoika, and the Cantigny, but unfortunately, any connections to the Mississippi remain unfounded.