The Schooner Bar pianist and crooner comes in for some particularly harsh treatment, possibly for playing Living Next Door to Alice too often. [citation needed]. This ceremony was performed when the ship crossed the equator. 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. 2013. The charges brought against him: In 2010, a Line Crossing Ceremony was an international affair. They never turned into a nightmare for the new comers and they were accompanied only by laughter and happy faces. The Line Crossing Ceremony might just be the most interesting of today's naval traditions. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. WebThe ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite that commemorates a sailors first crossing of the Equator. I remember the serious yet joyous voice of the captain when he used the public announcer to assemble us all on the starboard side wing. 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. WebThe modern ceremony follows an approved prescriptive format that ensures the event remains enjoyable and memorable for all concerned. I wouldnt call it hazing per se, the researcher said. 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. Anything else the Shellbacks could think of. Required fields are marked *. Its even begun being offered as a participatory attraction on commercial cruise lines. endobj For instance, blackface was a common element of it before World War II, but once integration hit the military that part stopped. This power asymmetry played a role in the ritual, showcasing innate naval biases. Throughout history, line-crossing ceremonies have sometimes become dangerous hazing rituals. Much like a wedding, one experiences the joy of it just once, thus becoming a spectator for the all the others to come! Equator-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are also sometimes carried out for passengers' entertainment on civilian ocean liners and Crossing the Lineor Equator Crossing ceremony (Baptism ceremony) commemorates a seafarers first crossing of the Equator and it is a very important event in any seamens career, regardless the type of vessel he/she is working on.Seafarers especially when they are far from their homes and families -are full of superstitions and the need to pray or seek protection come even stronger in the middle of the mighty ocean, with the wind blowing everything around and with no strip of land in the vicinity. For a while, said Hersh, some boats tried to stop the ceremonies from even happening. Captains were known to plot a course to cross those meridians if they were sailing close enough, so all the sailors could be rewarded with the title. As this scientist put it, everyone on the ship was fine with someone not participating; No one egged her in her sleep., Neptune and his entourage during a Polish line-crossing ceremony. Licensed in all 50 states. 6 0 obj So, you are [], Ahoy Ahoy, Port Chaplain coming on board. Usually, the role of Neptune is played by an experienced sailor dressed up in a funny handmade costume with other crew members acting as imaginary creatures helping him to perform the ceremony and captain acting as a mediator between the two parts. A videotape of the ceremony was obtained by the Nine Network and aired on Australian television. Photo: Getty Images A Pollywog makes the transition to Shellback. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. The tradition began with the Navy over 400 years ago, says anthropology and sociology professor Carie Little Hersh in her 2002 paper Crossing the Line: Sex, Power, Justice, and the U.S. Navy at the Equator. Given its long history, the ritual has changed over the years, but it remains a well-knownalbeit sometimes controversiallinchpin of Naval culture. Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate[15] declaring his new status. One former Navy man posted videos of the ritual to YouTube. It was designed to test the novices in the crew to see whether they could endure their first cruise at sea, senior chief aviation boatswains mate Bernard Dizontold the Navys press office. For research trips there are both scientists and crew members hired to maintain the ship. Pollywogs entertain the royal court with a talent show. Even commercial cruise lines have been known to host some parts of the ritual. 14 0 obj They then lathered my face & mouth with pitch and paint, & scraped some of it off with a piece of roughened iron hoop. 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. The Navy is chock full of myth and tradition, and what happens at sea even affects our language. This is how #EQUATOR_CROSSING_CEREMONY is celebrated onboard. "We have the same sort of ceremony in my country," said Lt. j.g. In the 18th century and earlier, the line-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event,[8] often involving beating pollywogs with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing the victims over the side of the ship, dragging the pollywog through the surf from the stern. %PDF-1.5 % Its kind of a nice tradition, said one US-based ocean researcher when I asked her about her experience. (Photo: Shellback certificate awarded to Charles Cameron, aboard USS Utah (BB-31), commemorating his first crossing of the equator, December 1, 1928. According to old tradition, all those crossing the equator for the first time, must be baptized and thus made an able-bodied seaman. )\gXpj 4_M\ ot%H8#,}u{ XXej4nM+#I 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. [2][7], A similar ceremony took place during the second survey voyage of HMS Beagle. Lets know your experience in the comments below or mail us at info@marineinsight.com. The ship's artist, Augustus Earle, made a sketch of the scene.[5]. WebCrossing The Equator (The Script of the Ceremony in HMCS Stettler 1957 February 26, 1957 at 106 East Longitude) (Name of original author not recorded 1957) Note to Reader: This is a typical script for a Crossing the Line ceremony. It is steamy hot, of course, and drinks are slipping down like kids on a waterslide. Their most recent ceremony was during the summer of 2019, on the TSES VI, held shortly after departing Reykjavik. 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. 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. 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. %%EOF Using a speaking trumpet he questioned Neptune, who would visit them the next morning. 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. It was my second voyage at sea and I was still a little uncomfortable on board, still a little shy in the middle of a 23-member crew (totally male). Anyone inducted is quick to say they are part of this Order, but resistant to go into more detail. All the same, its not a secret. WebWelcome to Equator CrossingThe line-crossing ceremony is an initiation rite that commemorates a person's first crossing of the Equator. terms and conditions It was also an initiation rite commemorated the first time a sailor crossed over. 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. King Neptune Ceremony on board the Polish shipChrzest Rwnikowy. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. 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 was also called crossing the line. It was the one where you talked about sailors becoming gay-yes that offensive. WebThe ritual dates back at least 400 years in Western seafaring. #ashmore #sailingships #tallships #youngadult #historicalfiction #truestory #captain #shipsurgeon #interactiveadventure #kiwiauthor #immigration #youngadultfiction #kingneptune #ceremony #crossingthequator #shellbacks #pollywoggers #sonsofneptune. VA disability pay for 2023 increased by 8.7%. Equator-crossing ritual on cruise ships Mal Chenu Puckering up to kiss the fish. I love the sea and all the beauties it brings along, I love travelling, nature and taking photos.As writing is one of my favourite activities as well, I am happy to share some of my experiences at sea together with lots of photos and movies on my personal blog www.travellingoncontainervessels.com. Download image. Equator-crossing ritual on cruise ships Mal Chenu Puckering up to kiss the fish. Because I know with a smile and a handshake [], A Queen is no ordinary woman. After crossing the line, Pollywogs receive subpoenas[14] to appear before King Neptune and his court (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest-ranking sailors who are Shellbacks), who officiate at the ceremony, which is often preceded by a beauty contest of men dressing up as women, each department of the ship being required to introduce one contestant in swimsuit drag. People hear a knock on their door and they know it has begun. The whole ship was a shower bath: & water was flying about in every direction: of course not one person, even the Captain, got clear of being wet through." Our modern practice is believed to have evolved from Viking rituals, executed upon crossing the 30th parallel, a tradition When the ceremony is organized and supervised by intelligent and kind persons regardless of age, rank or nationality the event takes the form of a happy celebration in which all the crew has a great time. 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. In this case, the whole ceremony can turn into a complete nightmare for the young seamen who would rather forget about the event than recording it in hundreds of photos and movies. Crossing the Line is nearly as old as seafaring itself; even in antiquity sailors engaged in rituals when crossing certain parallels. [citation needed], Efforts to curtail the line-crossing ceremony did not begin until the 1980s, when several reports of blatant hazing began to circulate regarding the line-crossing ceremony, and at least one death was attributed to abuse while crossing the line. It was also called crossing the line. Most modern navies have instituted regulations that prohibit physical attacks on sailors undergoing the line-crossing ceremony. WebThe modern ceremony follows an approved prescriptive format that ensures the event remains enjoyable and memorable for all concerned. [citation needed]. In 1995, a notorious line-crossing ceremony took place on the Royal Australian Navy submarine HMASOnslow. [10], U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described his crossing-the-line ceremony aboard the "Happy Ship" USSIndianapolis with his "Jolly Companions" in a letter to his wife Eleanor Roosevelt on 26 November 1936. The shellbacks had prepared 3-foot lengths of canvas/rubber firehose, which they swung hard at the posterior of each Wog. (Photo: Public domain/WikiCommons). The ceremony is a long-standing tradition of initiation that commemorates a sailors first time crossing of the equator. Equator-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are also sometimes carried out for passengers' entertainment on civilian ocean liners and Columbia, But there are also times when myseafarers are busy, with bunkering, or they are doing other work. MO Each ship might have their own traditions and nuances, but the fundamental structure goes something like this: Many accounts dwell only on the final, elaborate ceremony that takes place on the day a ship traverses the equator, but the month leading up to King Neptune's arrival, when the Pollywogs are separated off from the Shellbacks, is also significant. All-Time Lows: According to interest rates published on July 31, 2020, on FreddieMac.com. [9] The ceremony is sometimes explained as being an initiation into the court of King Neptune. A fun staple of modern cruising, such ceremonies have a long maritime history and have been used for centuries as a morale booster on long voyages. What perhaps differentiates the research experience from the Navy one is the chance to bond with more people on the ship. As appalling as it may seem to shore folk, it is a tradition that makes a man out a fresh cadet or trainee seaman. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2010 - 2023 Marine Insight All Rights Reserved. On the other hand, the ceremonys goal is to ensure that the new comers are capable of facing and handling rough seas and are ready to be called sailors. The first-time participants are known as pollywogs. The controlled order often turned to chaos if a Pollywog revolt began. SMH! It was a way for sailors to be tested for their seaworthiness. The scepter is laid forth to mark this moment of truth. Newbies are called Pollywogs, Slimy Pollywogs or Slimy Wogs. [6], Captain Robert FitzRoy of HMSBeagle suggested the practice had developed from earlier ceremonies in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian vessels passing notable headlands. endobj 2023 Atlas Obscura. It was also an initiation rite commemoratedthe first time a sailor crossed over. King Neptune Ceremony This ceremony was performed when the ship crossed the equator. Myriad approaches to conducting the ceremony will yield myriad accounts. What proceeds is a day of festivities, which builds camaraderie among the seafaring crew. WebEquator crossing certificate. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. With the pollywog to shellback transition complete, a certificate was often awarded to the new shellback as a rite of passage. They are also performed in the merchant navy and aboard sail training ships. 7 0 obj It was a way for sailors to be tested for their seaworthiness. Behind the Strange and Controversial Ritual When You Cross the Equator At Sea. The Greenwich Meridian didn't become the International standard until 1884, two years after the Ashmore crossed the equator. The ceremony is a long-standing tradition of initiation that commemorates a sailors first time crossing of the equator. x]KsSjF r.Kq9r_t)RMH[f~F`j4z0R.wo,y?_6 zXw{^7'/Vu:l~|cW;F:yVR0cSEQl:6hQOZr:iusl B9Pn~-~u6= f{w}XYaKn)VSwA#/Ye6=~ui)f{jL??GOn2{ >y 7KOs!Oy4+,Cc[`_rXVe(soAyG:x[HT1J-aFn-gfEXU0)EJhSsfD~5c6 ^Ub2?\%"0s5nFM 6VNG1ymVMgi;THbV:XB"`/8v6h?4`"n@? A rite of passage but it remains a well-knownalbeit sometimes controversiallinchpin of naval culture a sailor crossed over today... Ceremony of crossing the Line crossing ceremony was performed when the ship also an initiation commemorated... 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