Table of Contents
When was the first crossing the line ceremony?
Line-crossing ceremony aboard Méduse on the first of July 1816.
What is the Navy Shellback ceremony?
SHELLBACKS – A PROUD NAVAL HISTORY The ceremony observes a mariner’s transformation from slimy Pollywog, a seaman who hasn’t crossed the equator, to trusty Shellback, also called a Son or Daughter of Neptune. It was a way for sailors to be tested for their seaworthiness.
What is the Shellback ceremony?
What happens during a Shellback ceremony?
During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly embarrassing ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of fire hose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; being locked in a …
What is a shellback tattoo?
Like a ship at full mast, a shellback tattoo showed a sailor’s experience at sea. Once a sailor crossed the equator, he earned the right to get a turtle inked on his body. The longer someone had spent at sea, the more tattoos they could show off.
Is the Shellback ceremony in the US Navy?
The Shellback ceremony which has been a time honored tradition with the US Navy and many sea going countries across the world experience similar traditions in their navies. The history and heritage of the US Navy passes from Sailor to Sailor over the decades and the Shellback ceremony is one of these traditions.
Where did the tradition of the Shellback come from?
The ritual dates back at least 400 years in Western seafaring. The ceremony observes a mariner’s transformation from slimy Pollywog, a seaman who hasn’t crossed the equator, to trusty Shellback, also called a Son or Daughter of Neptune. It was a way for sailors to be tested for their seaworthiness.
What is the Navy’s line crossing ceremony revealed?
Pollywog or Shellback: The Navy’s Line Crossing Ceremony Revealed. The Navy is chock full of myth and tradition, and what happens at sea even affects our language. Many naval traditions, from the Sirens and Sea Monsters of the Odyssey to the boatswain’s call, date back hundreds and even thousands of years.
Where did the Shellback ceremony take place on the equator?
The ship remained in Norfolk, Virginia; no equator crossing there. So the search was narrowed down to two months, but after looking at the daily reports it became clear that it was time to find a description of the shellback ceremony, otherwise it might be difficult to pick out the right entry in the records.