The fun has just begun, and its going to continue for another 24 hours. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. This line-crossing lunacy was sanctioned to boost sailors spirits. After we drank our glasses with that awful tasting liquid, we received our certificates together with everybodys congratulations and enjoyed a wonderful party thrown in our honor. Little did I know what was to happen! A VA approved lender; Not endorsed or sponsored by the Dept. Throughout history, line-crossing ceremonies have sometimes become dangerous hazing rituals. VA disability pay for 2023 increased by 8.7%. King Neptune Ceremony This ceremony was performed when the ship crossed the equator. The Greenwich Meridian didn't become the International standard until 1884, two years after the Ashmore crossed the equator. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. ", "List of Unofficial U.S. Navy Certificates", "The Short Snorter Project - Harry F. Revers Short Snorter", Listen to audio recordings of a Crossing the Equator ceremony. The Equator Crossing Ceremony is an age-old tradition to commemorate a seafarer crossing the equator for the first time. Church, Andrew. Equator Crossing or Baptism Ceremony Showing gratitude towards the sea and its masters may come in the form of a whispering pray behind the four walls of your cabin, but it sometimes requires a loud shout and a real ceremony which must be attended by everybody else on board. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. Lastly, the Pollywogs take a royal bath in a pool of sea water before being declared Shellbacks, after which they receive their certificates, which they can proudly hang on their wall at home. for more information. He concluded, As far as I know they are still being performed but they are not as fun as they used to be since all the politically correct people have ruined it.. DhD!D4n4I8P5>U`_FC.i`p8~xz_ep;MtBgCrf"FB:&t#W>V98}&I75(*^bqYe[A_xJ4k) Bx^c;.vT{c,kv8J>U_ Much like a wedding, one experiences the joy of it just once, thus becoming a spectator for the all the others to come! The Golden Shellback was awarded to those who also crossed the equator and the International Date Line or 180th meridian, (where the world is divided between Eastern and Western Hemispheres) at the same time. WebThe ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite that commemorates a sailors first crossing of the Equator. Naval History and Heritage Command. Top VA Purchase Lender each Fiscal Year between 2016-2022. [11] Later, during World War II, the frequency of the ceremony increased dramatically, especially in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific, where the service's fleet operations grew enormously to counter widely dispersed Japanese forces. An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. This is a usually light-hearted event that allows the ships crew to take some time out from their hectic schedules and have fun with the rest of the crewmates. They also were made to sufferembarrassing ordeals including: Being swatted with a fire hose while on their hands and knees, Locked in stocks and pelted with mushy fruit, Locked in a salt-water coffin with a bright green die made of a fluorescent sodium salt. Perhaps the most famous scientist to be initiated was Charles Darwin, who wrote about it in his diary. They are also performed in the merchant navy and aboard sail training ships. The custom of crossing the line was immediately adopted following the formation of the Royal Australian Navy, as seen here onboard HMAS Australia (I) in 1913. It is a memory that is etched into each and every seafarer, for it is an event that ushers in a sense of belonging to ones profession. US Navy at War 1941-1945: Official Report to the Secretary of the Navy. <> Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. I hope all of you new comers will receive the same kind treatment as I did when I first crossed the Equator and never forget that your abilities to face and stand up the harsh seas will be tested sooner or later for real and not during the Equator Crossing Ceremony. In the end, Neptune reads out the certificates stating the names of the seafarers, their new names after the ceremony, the date and the place where the event took place and welcomes into the family. The Wogs then ascended a ladder to the boat deck to slide down a makeshift chute into the baptism of messdeck leavings in sea water in an inflated liferaft back on the superstructure deck. According to old tradition, all those crossing the equator for the first time, must be baptized and thus made an able-bodied seaman. U.S. sailors and Marines participate in a line-crossing ceremony. Most prominently, ocean scientists are known to perform similar ceremonies. 2023 Atlas Obscura. [6], Captain Robert FitzRoy of HMSBeagle suggested the practice had developed from earlier ceremonies in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian vessels passing notable headlands. It looks like a trout, but the bloke who goes in for the full tongue action is definitely a groper. Hersh mentioned how the ceremony morphed as more people entered the Navy. Thanks for reading and watching my BLINK. MORE: Check if you meet the official VA loan requirements. WebAlthough crossing the equator may seem like a routine event for any modern-day naval vessel, navies have celebrated the time-honored tradition for centuries. It was a way for sailors to be tested for their seaworthiness. At the end of it, the Captain, Chief Engineer and the rest, as a mark of welcoming and respect, congratulate the initiates. Over the history of researchers hitting the high seas to acquire water samples and observe marine life, there are multiple accounts of ceremonies performed when the ships hit the Equator. Help using this website - Accessibility statement, Luxury cruise offers a taste of the Succession lifestyle. The Star Spangled Shellbacks was used for those crossing the equator on July 4th, 1966. USMC Golden shellback here, aboard the USS Denver, 1981 much more fun pitching than catching on Wog Day!!! most of the others were treated much worse, dirty mixtures being put in their mouths & rubbed on their faces. FitzRoy quoted Otto von Kotzebue's 1830 description in his 1839 Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the Years 1826 and 1836. The crew finally converted the Wogs after the endurance tests were accomplished, ending the ceremonywith an affirmation of the new Shellbacks by way of a certificate declaring their new status. This is a usually light-hearted event that allows the ships crew to take some time out from their hectic schedules and have fun with the rest of the crewmates. I emailed him asking if hed be willing to talk about his experience, but he didnt seem too interested in going into great detail. These roles are all played by shellbacksthose who have gone through the ritual before. stream It was also called crossing the line. Honorable Shellbacks or Sons of Neptune was the namegiven to a sailor who has already crossed the equator. Check out this weeks video at the bottom. Back in the days of wooden ships, Crossing the Line ceremonies were designed to test young Sailors on their first cruise out in the open sea. It is therefore no wonder that the shore folk are appalled and excited at the same time when the ceremony is told to them in detail. They were expected to endure hardships or initiations ordered by King Neptune, the Captain for their sins. So, you are [], Ahoy Ahoy, Port Chaplain coming on board. Heinous as the accusations are, no one seems too concerned until the royal handmaidens bring out the fish. The rarest Shellback status is that of the Emerald Shellback (US), or Royal Diamond Shellback (Commonwealth), which is received after crossing the Equator at the prime meridian,[16] near the Null Island weather buoy. The Shellbacks plan the coming festivities, but they also spend the entire month taunting the Pollywogs until a mock mutiny is staged by them on the day before the Equator crossing Pollywog Day. All rights reserved. Crossing the Line is nearly as old as seafaring itself; even in antiquity sailors engaged in rituals when crossing certain parallels. Photo: Getty Images A Pollywog makes the transition to Shellback. The first-time participants are known as pollywogs. Nowadays, the most common ceremonies always include at least two members of the crew willing to conduct the show, the fire hoses ready to splash, glasses of miraculous drinks, baptism certificates, a noisy and supportive crowd and a well deserved party afterwards. As is with all cadets, sleep is the all-engulfing element that overpowers the necessity to change ones boiler suit and go in for a shower! <> WebThe modern ceremony follows an approved prescriptive format that ensures the event remains enjoyable and memorable for all concerned. Equator Crossing or Baptism Ceremony Showing gratitude towards the sea and its masters may come in the form of a whispering pray behind the four walls of your cabin, but it sometimes requires a loud shout and a real ceremony which must be attended by everybody else on board. The ship's artist, Augustus Earle, made a sketch of the scene.[5]. The older and more experienced sailors were always so happy to perform the most outrageous tricks and games on the new comers that they sometimes crossed the limits of entertainment and brought the game to a dangerous and even deadly point. There, they crawled down a gauntlet of Shellbacks on both sides of a long, heavy canvas runner, about 1012 meters. I contacted a few other scientistsone supposedly went on a trip where the wogs were forced to crawl through trashand few felt comfortable talking about the experience. All the same, its not a secret. The researcher I spoke to remembered how on her trip two scientists were already in the order of shellback, so they joined the rest of the crew to help facilitate the days events. crossing the equator, Commanding Officer Captain J. Scott Jones, for instance, publicly announced that the USS Bonhomme Richard had a great celebration of this important passage. The transition flows from established order to the "controlled chaos" of the Pollywog Revolt, the beginnings of re-order in the initiation rite as the fewer but experienced enlisted crew converts the Wogs through physical tests, then back to, and thereby affirming, the pre-established order of officers and enlisted. But though these changes are intended to make the ritual less exclusionary and abusive, some long for a line-crossings of yore. As we approach the middle of the world, quite a few passengers rush to the rails for a look, as though there might be an actual line drawn on the ocean. There are other similar ceremonies for different locales including the Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the International Date Line, and others. This line-crossing lunacy was sanctioned to boost sailors spirits. It was also called crossing the line. 0 (July 14): NNS130704-01. May you always sail in safe seas and always find your way back home! (Photo: Public domain/WikiCommons). Your email address will not be published. King Neptune decrees the "lowly, scum-sucking Pollywogs must kiss the royal fish!". t a terrible thing it would be if a Navy man became gay. His diary for the full tongue action is definitely a groper seems too until! Seas and always find your way back home Line, and website this... Certain parallels including the Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Captain for seaworthiness... This website - Accessibility statement, Luxury cruise offers a taste of the Navy Getty Images a Pollywog makes transition. 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