Crossing the line


Once upon a time, Charles Darwin crossed the equator in the Beagle, and he received the traditional hazing:

i-ec0f4eed225c21e4366d0be1c8ef32b0-darwin_at_the_equator.jpg

We have crossed the Equator. I have undergone the disagreeable sensation operation of being shaved. About 9 oclock this morning we poor “griffins” two and thirty in number, were put altogether on the lower deck. The hatchways were battened down, so we were in the dark and very hot. Presently four of Neptunes constables came to us, and one by one led us up on deck. I was the first and escaped easily: I nevertheless found this watery ordeal sufficiently disagreeable. Before coming up, the constable blindfolded me and thus lead along, buckets of water were thundered all around; I was then placed on a plank, which could be easily tilted up into a large bath of water. They then lathered my face and mouth with pitch and paint, and scraped some of it off with a piece of roughened iron hoop, a signal being given I was tilted head over heels into the water, where two men received me and ducked me. At last, glad enough, I escaped, most of the others were treated much worse, dirty mixtures being put in their mouths and rubbed on their faces. The whole ship was a shower bath: and water was flying about in every direction: of course not one person, even the Captain, got clear of being wet through.

On our cruise to the Galápagos, we also got a much, much milder version of the hazing, a night with King Neptune, who chose a queen (Susan Hurst in this case), and then made a few of us do very silly things. The movie below has pirates with charming Ecuadorian accents, King Neptune, and absurd rituals, but the real highlight of this video, though, is getting to see Phil Plait do the mating dance of the blue-footed booby (about 6’30” in).

For extortion purposes, I do have a higher resolution copy of this video. Maybe it should make an appearance at the next TAM…mwahahahahaha!

Comments

  1. JoJo says

    At least Darwin was a real Shellback, properly initiated into the mysteries of the briny deep. I realize that cruise ships do some watered-down version of the line-crossing ceremony, but a true Shellback knows you’re still a pollywog.

    JoJo
    Emerald Shellback (one who has crossed the equator at the Greenwich Meridian)

  2. says

    Your camera doesn’t have a zoom attachment? What’s the point of telling us about the mating dance of the blue-footed booby without a closeup?

  3. Porky Pine says

    Looks like fun but, was the guy who had to walk like a snake wearing a straight jacket?

  4. says

    No, Darwin was not waterboarded. The shellback initiation is unpleasant, but it isn’t a simulated drowning.

  5. Spencer says

    Yeah I’m in the Navy and we crossed the line when I was on my last ship. They had to tone it down a lot in the ’90s due to someone dieing. It was still pretty intense though. PTing on nonskid for 4 hours, swimming in the coldest hot tub of my life, and getting rotten blended food dumped on you the whole time. Still very fun though.

  6. jb says

    Veddy interesting, as they say. I crossed the Equator some years ago on a business trip to Brazil. The plane had no such ceremonies, and Brazil was very much like the other hemisphere, as long as you understood that the other hemisphere was full of poor people. So it must be a maritime thing….

  7. says

    Ah! The good old days! I think they are nicer to us girls – it wasn’t all that terrible. Just waded through some trash, etc… .

    OT ( and shameless promotion but I want to share ) I have some interesting “eye candy” for girls posted on my blog.;-)

    Stacy

  8. llewelly says

    By the way, is anyone else reminded of the ‘insane japes’ that Arnold Rimmer always yearned to be part of ?

  9. Eris says

    My father told me about his “initiation” when he was in the US Navy in the 50’s. it sounded horrifying. And so does Darwin’s account and Spencers’s and S. Scott’s. What on Earth makes anyone think these things are fun? Wading through trash, having rotten food shoved in your mouth and licking the deck clean (my father did that one)? it’s disgusting.

    If anyone tried to make me do things like that, traditional though they may be, I’d haul off and punch that idiot hard.

    I’m on dialup, so I haven’t seen the video PZ posted and can’t comment on it, but it sounds like it might be much better. Hazing, however, is grotesque. My father said it “built camaraderie”, but I simply don’t understand that. In me it would create resentment, distrust, and hate.

  10. Arthur says

    The Shellback ceremony is not unpleasant. It’s just silly. The most unpleasant part is taking your peanut-butter covered hair into the shower if someone thought to turn off the hot water.

  11. says

    Mmmm…. I lived on a ship for years, but all we got was drunk, and maybe throw eachother overboard once in a while… No dressing up parties to some pop soundtrack. (OK, maybe some… but I’m not admitting to anything they will tell you! -actually, I will…)
    Aaaah… good times… I’m sad to say I’m a landlubber once again…
    Still, the getting drunk and throwing eachother in the water is still possible in the city with the many canals!

  12. says

    @Eris – getting my “crow” tacked on was much worse …I couldn’t feel my arm for a week. I’d MUCH rather do the shellback ceremony again.

    @Crr – What the heck?! We weren’t allowed to have any spirits on board. What ship were you on??!!

  13. Kseniya says

    Stacy:

    I have some interesting “eye candy” for girls posted on my blog.

    Oh my.

    The cover-boychik is not really my type, but some girl out there is probably crying in her kool-aid. Nos. 4, 5 and 8 are a little more my speed.

    Too bad about the collars, though.

  14. says

    Arthur writes: “The most unpleasant part is taking your peanut-butter covered hair into the shower if someone thought to turn off the hot water.”

    You got off light. It’s substantially more unpleasant when you’ve been painted head-to-toe with Bunker C instead of just having a little peanut butter jammed into your hair. You can shave your head, and you’re fine. The Bunker C stays in your skin for weeks…

  15. Arthur says

    s9:

    Yes, I know I got off light. I think it was my Captain’s fault, because he didn’t want things to get out of control. Come to think of it, I think either the Captain or the XO was still a wog at the time. I guess that’s you get on a boomer that just does figure 8s in the water.

  16. Bride of Shrek OM says

    Sheesh,

    Call yourselves Scientists? Nine odd minutes of video and I see no evidence of satanic worship, baby eating or puppy stomping (Phil’s little jig being a poor substitute).

    Scienz ur not doin it rite.

  17. Ian says

    It would seem that we can’t break free of Ridiculous Religious Ritual (the theistic version of the three ‘R’s) no matter what we do.

  18. MH says

    The line-crossing ceremony is nothing but institutionalized assault. I find it odd that the same people who would call it “just a bit of fun” would have no trouble seeing the horror in “happy slapping“.

    If anyone assaulted me in such a way, I would probably kill them.

  19. Sili says

    Re The Roman Catholic Calendar:

    Yowza! I guess that’s what they call a challenge. And hey, some people doubtless find collars or turnon – though not necessarily that particular kind …

  20. says

    jb:

    In aviation, there are ceremonies like this, but not based on the crossing of the equator.

    Most are based on certain piloting milestones:

    First Flight
    First Solo Flight (The Big One)
    First Jet Flight
    Breaking 2000 hours of flight
    usw

  21. K.H. says

    My favorite heirloom is a huge bizarre framed certificate that my grandfather received upon crossing the equator and entering “Neptune’s kingdom” on a US Navy ship in 1921.

  22. Julie Stahlhut says

    I seem to recall that our family doctor had one of those Neptune certificates from his days in the Navy. Me, I’m just glad that the only times I’ve crossed the Equator, it’s been by air.

  23. khan says

    In aviation, there are ceremonies like this, but not based on the crossing of the equator.

    Most are based on certain piloting milestones:

    First Flight
    First Solo Flight (The Big One)
    First Jet Flight
    Breaking 2000 hours of flight
    usw

    Don’t forget the Last Flight

  24. ppb says

    My dad went through this when he was in the Army in WWII. He spent most of the war in Italy, but after VE Day his group was put on a ship to be part of the Japanese invasion. While waiting for the invasion to (not) happen they crossed the Equator and he went through the initiation. When he died in 2000 he still had a card in his wallet that certified his status as a shellback.

  25. Ann says

    I went through something similar when I crossed the Arctic Circle. One of the ship’s officers dressed up as King Neptune (with a Norwegian accent), and we all got icewater poured down the backs of our shirts. Plus some other general merriment. I display my certificate proudly!

  26. says

    The Dude in the straitjacket is Danger Nate, who holds the World Record for fastest escape from a straitjacket.

    Is it just me, or does King Neptune sound like a cross between ’80’s Schwarzenegger and Dr. Zoidberg? >_>

    @Ann: What with arctic ice melting, soon we will have cruises stopping at the North Pole for such a ceremony, with Santa Claus and Polar Bears. Oh, and attacks by Russian pirates in submarines?

  27. JoJo says

    MH #24

    The line-crossing ceremony is nothing but institutionalized assault. I find it odd that the same people who would call it “just a bit of fun” would have no trouble seeing the horror in “happy slapping”.

    Being a sailor is a hazardous job. Sailors have to trust each other to do their jobs correctly and to watch out for their shipmates and the ship. In the merchant marine, even today, being an Able-Bodied Seaman means that one is competent to stand watches and know what to do in emergencies. Naval sailors have to gain similar qualifications. Sailors set certain milestones that formally or informally recognize other sailors as being competent. Obviously taking a ship from North America or Europe to the equator means a sailor has a certain amount of experience even if he or she is on their first voyage. So crossing the line and becoming a Shellback is recognition that a sailor has at least a minimum amount of experience and competence.

    If anyone assaulted me in such a way, I would probably kill them.

    If you fought back during or after a line-crossing ceremony, you would almost certainly be the guest of honor at a blanket party.

  28. Josh K says

    Crossing the Line is like a great many traditions, all of which, executed in the proper spirit, foster a sense of community.

    iirc, our CO had the XO participate when I crossed.

    Looks like PZ ‘n co. had a good experience. :)

  29. Queen CrankyPants says

    PZ – thanks very much for mentioning me in your blog! It has been Scott’s dream for awhile to get a mention in your blog…and without even trying, I beat him to it! Yay for marital competitiveness, eh?!

  30. MH says

    “If you fought back during or after a line-crossing ceremony, you would almost certainly be the guest of honor at a blanket party.”

    Then my attackers would some time afterwards get fragged. Or should certain people be allowed to assault others with impunity? Is that just?

    It makes me feel physically sick when otherwise rational people try to defend this form of assault. Where the hell is your conscience??

  31. says

    How come the only one’s complaining about the “shellback” ceremony are the ones who have never done it?

    It’s NOT THAT BAD and actually sort of fun!

  32. MH says

    I’d have no problem if it was something that people opted into in order to get a silly certificate, and that no negative repercussions were forthcoming for people who didn’t want to opt in.

    If otherwise sane adults want to participate in sado-masochistic practices, that’s their business.

    I do have a problem with humiliating people against their will. That is assault. And if resisting or abstaining results in further punishments, that compounds the problem.

    There was a time when it was not uncommon for women working in offices to have their asses slapped. According to the perpetrators, it was just a bit of harmless fun, and fun is good for morale. Some women probably didn’t even mind; some may have enjoyed it. Others may have disliked it, but kept quiet because they knew that to complain would affect their career. They felt powerless and humiliated.

    I’m glad that today, such exploitation is seen for what it is: assault, exploitation, bullying.

    I’m also glad that hazing in all its forms is beginning to be seen in the same way. The only thing keeping it going is tradition and lack of empathy.

  33. says

    I have a beautifully engraved, 1.5’x2.5′ certificate given to my grandfather when he crossed the equator on his midshipman cruise in 1911.

  34. Triffid says

    I crossed the line at sea (never heard of a ceremony for doing so on land) for the first time in the Galapagos. Ceremonies were undergone (shaving was somewhat less so for we femeales), and I did indeed receive a beautiful certificate which I consider an honor.
    I have a small one, too, though, which declares me a “Galapagos Amberjack” for the act of crossing the equator? What’s that all about?

  35. JoJo says

    Then my attackers would some time afterwards get fragged. Or should certain people be allowed to assault others with impunity? Is that just?

    Threats to frag your shipmates would be extremely dangerous to your health and even your continued longevity. Plus such threats are a violation of Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 117 (Provoking Words and Gestures).

    You can opt out of line crossing ceremonies and the like. However, you will automatically gain a reputation as a whiner with no regard for comradery or crew cohesion. If I were your captain, I would do everything in my power to get you transferred at the earliest opportunity with low evaluation/fitrep marks in “support of the command” and “response to stressful situations.” If you made threats to frag shipmates, you’d be court-martialed before your transfer.

    Thirty or more years ago, hazing and harassment were problems in the military, especially in the Navy. While there may be instances still happening today, they’re quite isolated and are usually punished when found out.

    I realize that you’ll probably slam me for being a reactionary who encourages bullying. However, as an officer and especially a captain, I put the welfare of the crew ahead of an individual’s sense of propriety. I have explained above how line crossings and similar ceremonies promote crew morale.

    If you, as an officer or petty officer, feel affronted by line crossing ceremonies, and make your disdain public by refusing to undergo the initiation, you’ve just lost a great deal of the crew’s respect. In my opinion you would have rendered yourself ineffectual as a leader and I would not want you in my command.

  36. MH says

    JoJo, your defense – nay, encouragement – of institutionalized assault is sickening. I expect you thought that the MPs in charge of Abu Ghraib were just having a laugh, and that any prisoner that complained just had no sense of humor? Or do you think that prisoners of war should be treated better than people on your own side? Maybe that should be stated in the recruiting material?

    If captains like you are so morally bankrupt (or is your reason just cowed by tradition) is it any wonder that soldiers below them are too?

  37. JoJo says

    I knew you’d whine about my “defense – nay, encouragement – of institutionalized assault.”

    Quite frankly, I recommend that you never join the military or get involved in any job that’s dangerous. People who put their lives on the line want to trust each other, because if someone else screws up, it can be your ass that’s in a jam. So you either trust the other folks not to screw up or you don’t trust them at all. One way to cement this trust is by bonding. The line cross ceremony isn’t about crossing a geographical marking on a chart, it’s about becoming part of the group. It’s an initiation and, after suffering some indignities, the sailor becomes a member of the initiated, someone the other initiates can trust.

    If you, as a crew member, object to the initiation and refuse to undergo it, you’re telling the crew, “My self-importance and dignity is much more important than being trusted by you.” I can think of few things that would generate more hostility to you. As I said previously, if I were your captain, I’d transfer you and poison your career. What’s more, I’d do it publicly. When you left the ship, there would be no doubt in your mind or in the minds of the rest of the crew that I don’t want you on my ship or in my Navy and why.

    If captains like you are so morally bankrupt (or is your reason just cowed by tradition) is it any wonder that soldiers below them are too?

    As I said, do not join the military. You’d alienate everyone with your pompous, smug, priggish attitude. If you did enter the military, especially as an officer, your career would be short, unpleasant, and possibly fatal.

  38. MH says

    So you agree that certain groups should be allowed to abuse others with no consequences? And your defense is that it encourages trust? How can you trust people who wantonly – joyfully, even – abuse you? How can you trust people who would threaten to kill you if you don’t pretend to be enjoying your humiliation? What you mistake as bonding is just as likely to be Stockholm Syndrome.

    It sounds analogous to an abusive family: the husband abuses the wife, the wife abuses the child, the child abuses the dog, all because they can get away with it. And threats of dire consequences are made so that the abuse doesn’t get reported to the authorities. But hey, it’s a tight knit family, and that’s all that matters!

    As I said, do not join the military. You’d alienate everyone with your pompous, smug, priggish attitude.

    And there were people in business who thought that women who didn’t want to be groped by senior managers were being “pompous, smug, and priggish”. Their advice would be to not get a job in an office. Was that right? I can only assume you think that it was.

    As I said, I’m glad that the spotlight has exposed the depravity of hazing, and that steps are being made to punish the perpetrators. It will not be stamped out quickly (largely due to people like you who are abusing the next generation of service-people), but it will vanish eventually, because western society will not stand for it.

    Quite frankly, I pity you. The abused has become the abuser.

  39. says

    I do have a problem with humiliating people against their will. That is assault. And if resisting or abstaining results in further punishments, that compounds the problem.

    Ummm … we gave up uor rights when we JOINED the military. Voluntarily

    I encourage you to find a sailor who had a bad time doing this and then come back and defend them. Otherwise – this is just a silly argument not worth having.

    The absolute worst thing about being on board a ship is being away from your family. Anything that you do to take away the pain of missing your loved ones is a welcome distraction. Besides – there’s nothing to do! It’s flippin’ entertainment!
    There were women on my ship that left their 4 month old babies for 6 months. I can’t even imagine that pain.

    Get over it why don’t you – like I said … anything to turn your mind off for a while.

  40. MH says

    Joining the armed forces does not mean giving up your right not to be assaulted by your colleagues, just as joining a cult doesn’t mean you renounce your human rights.

    Have you ever wondered why cultists who have suffered traumatic abuse don’t readily come forward, but instead remain with their group and inevitably get initiated into abusing others?

    And if you think that boredom is a valid excuse for abuse, you need psychiatric help.

  41. MH says

    DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY (DON) POLICY ON HAZING [2005]

    Hazing is contrary to our Core Values of Honor,
    Courage and Commitment. Adherence to Core Values by our Sailors
    and Marines is central to DON’s ability to meet its global
    mission. These values have served the sea services well during
    war and peacetime. They are our guiding principles for treating
    every Sailor and Marine with dignity and respect, and as a
    valued member of the Navy and Marine Corps team. Hazing
    degrades and diminishes the ability of victims to function
    within their unit. It destroys our members’ confidence and
    trust in their shipmates and is destructive to unit cohesion and
    combat readiness.
    Every member of DON must be afforded the
    opportunity to be a productive and contributing member free of
    hazing and its ill effects. Hazing is not part of our “time
    honored traditions” and it has no place in the modern Naval
    Services. Hazing will not be tolerated by any member of the
    Navy or Marine Corps.

    Read it and weep, you sadists.

    So, are you going to continue to advocate hazing, bearing in mind that I have just shown it to be unambiguously illegal?

  42. MH says

    If you think hazing is Ok, think again! This is not OK and is an attitude that needs to change … Hazing in any form, under any circumstance, has no place in our Navy

    A young Navy airman recruit entered service in 1987, excited about completing the Navy’s SAR School that candidates must take to become a rescue swimmer. A few months later, though, in what some described as an illegal hazing incident, the Sailor died when he ran out of strength and air, with instructors allegedly holding him underwater. The other members of his class, meanwhile, were ordered to turn around and place their backs to the pool, then sing the national anthem while standing at attention.

    In late 1994, a total of 18 Sailors from two Norfolk-based ships appeared at non-judicial proceedings for their involvement in unrelated hazing incidents aboard the two ships. Six Sailors aboard the one ship were disciplined for assault, which resulted in one of two victims requiring four days’ hospitalization for deep leg bruises. The second victim required one day’s bed rest. Aboard the other ship, the lone victim escaped without any injuries that required treatment, but the eight junior Sailors who assaulted him were disciplined.

    A hazing incident the following year involved a young Sailor who was the victim of a “tacking on” after receiving his silver dolphins warfare insignia. When leadership in his command noticed his dolphins were bent, an investigation was started, but the victim declined to identify the shipmates involved.

    According to the investigation report, the victim was subjected to undue pressure to reveal who was responsible. Then-CNO Adm. Jay Johnson said in his endorsement, “The chain of command was responsible for this pressure.” The victim subsequently took his own life. At that point, Adm. Johnson directed the chief of naval personnel to issue guidance in properly handling victims of hazing and other forms of harassment.

    This kind of behavior became taboo in August 1997, when then-Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton issued an order prohibiting hazing. Navy leadership today continue to take SecNav Instruction 1610.2 (Department of the Navy Policy on Hazing) seriously. Twice in 2004, Commander Naval Surface Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, VAdm. Timothy LaFleur, reminded commanders and commanding officers under him to get out the word that hazing won’t be tolerated.

    His most recent reminder described reports from various levels of verbal abuse, unwarranted physical contact and restraint. “Whether they are called initiations, ‘welcome to the division’ parties, or otherwise,” said VAdm. LaFleur, “they all constitute hazing in one form or another. Investigations indicate there still is a prevailing attitude that as long as everything in consensual, it is OK. This is not OK and is an attitude that needs to change … Hazing in any form, under any circumstance, has no place in our Navy.

    “… Hazing and horseplay can and have resulted in serious physical injury or death … In addition to the unwarranted physical and verbal acts, hazing is demoralizing in nature and undermines military readiness by alienating its victims and discouraging them through fear, shame or reprisal from reporting the injustice that has occurred to them. Unwillingness to participate in hazing or horseplay can place a Sailor in a difficult position within his or her environment.

    “I am very pleased with the actions of commands who have identified hazing and the actions they have taken,” noted VAdm. LaFleur. “Continue to take pro-active and timely action against participants and responsible bystanders in cases you discover. Re-engage your khaki leadership to communicate persistently that hazing, no matter how minor, is unacceptable behavior that undermines a healthy command climate. Effective enforcement of the rules and pointed education, training and professionalism continue to be the key elements in preventing hazing. With your active engagement and personal involvement, we can make our fleet hazing-free.”

    Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Michael W. Hagee, shared similar sentiments in a 2003 message. “Marines are our most precious asset,” he said. “I will not tolerate any instance where one Marine inflicts any form of physical or psychological abuse that degrades, insults, dehumanizes, or injures another Marine. We will protect our Marines through fair, scrupulous and unbiased treatment as individuals–caring for them, teaching them, and leading them. It is the obligation of each member in the chain of command to ensure that hazing in any form is not allowed and that Marines are treated, at all times, with genuine dignity, fairness and respect.”

    And, finally, there’s this note from a Navy CO, “As commanding officer, I am firmly committed to the Department of the Navy’s zero-tolerance objective in hazing … It is the responsibility of every Sailor to ensure that hazing does not occur in any form at any level … There is no place for inappropriate and/or unlawful behavior that detracts from the accomplishment of our mission.”

    (source)

    JoJo, I hope it’s obvious now that the US Navy thinks that people like you are part of the problem. Is it too much to hope that you are now embarrased of your advocacy of hazing? Probably.

  43. MH says

    S. Scott, I get that my position is the ethical and legal one, and yours is the unethical and illegal one.

    I look forward to the day when hazing becomes as unacceptable as slavery. Alas, there are still people alive today who think that slavery is fine. I think that it’s fair to say that they are not generally respected, though.

    Think on.

  44. JoJo says

    JoJo, I hope it’s obvious now that the US Navy thinks that people like you are part of the problem.

    Perhaps you missed my statement that, while hazing and harrassment was a problem some years ago, it’s not one now. Or perhaps you were too busy being pompous, smug and priggish to notice my comment.

    Is it too much to hope that you are now embarrased of your advocacy of hazing?

    My second guess was right. You’re too busy being pompous, smug and priggish to pay attention to anyone but yourself.

    I get that my position is the ethical and legal pompous, smug and priggish one, and yours is the unethical and illegal one that promotes crew cohesion.

    There, fixed it for you.

  45. MH says

    So, you wouldn’t advocate or participate in hazing at all?

    “Hazing is defined as any conduct whereby a military
    member or members, regardless of service or rank, without proper
    authority causes another military member or members, regardless
    of service or rank, to suffer or be exposed to any activity
    which is cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning, or
    harmful. Soliciting or coercing another to perpetrate any such
    activity is also considered hazing. Hazing need not involve
    physical contact among or between military members; it can be
    verbal or psychological in nature. Actual or implied consent to
    acts of hazing does not eliminate the culpability of the
    perpetrator.

    “Hazing can include, but is not limited to, the
    following: playing abusive or ridiculous tricks; threatening or
    offering violence or bodily harm to another; striking; branding;
    taping; tattooing; shaving; greasing; painting; requiring
    excessive physical exercise beyond what is required to meet
    standards; “pinning”; “tacking on”; “blood wings”; or forcing or
    requiring the consumption of food, alcohol, drugs, or any other
    substance.”

  46. MH says

    “Ooooh! Look at the fear and the danger!”

    Hey, if it doesn’t contravene the Navy’s guidelines, which seem fair, I have no problem with it. I don’t expect a ship to have the atmosphere of a morgue :-D

    I just care about protecting people from abuse, as does the DON.

  47. JoJo says

    You and I will never agree on this subject.

    I was the captain of a ship. I took command after a martinet had driven crew morale into the ground. There was a bit of doggerel popular on that submarine under my predecessor:

    One ship, one crew,
    One shaft, one screw.

    I had to turn crew morale around and, to make matters worse, a month after I took command we were making a five month deployment involving a cruise around Africa. Preparations for a long deployment and anticipation of long separation from friends and family tend to bring morale down under normal circumstances. Plus three months previously the crew had failed their ORSE* and just barely passed the re-exam.

    So I took the ship. The couple of chiefs who knew me from previous commands did assure the crew that I wasn’t an asshole, but I had to prove myself to the crew under adverse conditions. I was able to get the squadron and SUBLANT (Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet) to give me a supplementary food budget but that was the only outside help I got.

    I wasn’t going to play “hail fellow, well met” with the crew. First, that isn’t my style. Secondly, that’s a dangerous situation for a captain. No, I’m not going to explain why, I doubt you would either understand nor even want to. However, there were some things I could do. One of them involved setting my own course once south of the Tropic of Cancer. The Prime Meridian and the Equator cross in the Gulf of Guinea. So I plotted a course that would hit that point. There were about 20 shellbacks on board, including me, but none of us had crossed the Equator at the Greenwich Meridian. Doing that made all the crewmembers Emerald Shellbacks, a very rare achievement.

    Yes, there was a shellback ceremony and everyone, including the shellbacks, got a mild initiation. Nobody got broom handles pushed up their rectums or their pubic hair plucked out or any of the ghastly things that you seem convinced take place at these ceremonies. There were some other activities for the crew during that cruise, one of the most popular was a dinner cooked and served to the enlisted crew by the officers and chiefs. My job was working in the scullery, taking the crew’s plates, scraping off the left-overs, and running them through the dishwasher.

    Six months after I took command of that ship, re-enlistments were up 200% and we passed the TRE (Tactical Readiness Evaluation, the important inspection for the non-engineering part of the ship) with an overall grade of Outstanding. For our next ORSE we got a grade of Above Average. The last year I had that sub, we got the squadron Battle E for being the most efficient ship out of six in the squadron. As a personal note, because of what I did with that submarine, I was promoted early to Captain and later became a Squadron Commodore. So I guess the Navy did not see me as “part of the problem.”

    So, believe it or not, I do know something about how to develop and maintain crew morale. When I was captain of a sub, my philosophy was “I’ll take crew and the crew will take care of the ship.” I think I did a pretty good job of taking care of the crew and the Navy seemed to agree.

    *Operational Reactor Safeguards Examination, the major inspection in the nuclear navy. Ask any navy nuke what the consequences of failing an ORSE are. Not a happy time.

  48. JoJo says

    In my post #57, that should be “I’ll take care of the crew and the crew will take care of the ship.”

  49. MH says

    JoJo, I’m happy to hear that your morale boosting efforts were both successful and ‘haze-free’.

    :-)

    It’s only people who contravene the DON guidelines on hazing that I have a problem with. I apologize for my brusqueness. I get easily riled on the subject of abuse/assault/exploitation/bullying/etc. There’s no place for it in a civilized society.

    ‘night.