Yes, they made enough for 300 people to eat. Since nobody actually ate the breakfast they threw it out on the deck, and you had to crawl through it. You're being screamed at, your butt is getting a little sore, you're soaked, you're getting tired. You crawl all over the deck, which is like 5 grit sandpaper due to the non-skid they use. I'm hearing rumors these aren't allowed anymore. You would be whipped with shillelaghs, which in the Navy's case was a cut up firehose. ![]() I don't care how hot it is outside, if you're being constantly sprayed with seawater, you're freezing. Then we crawled down the passageway, up the ladder, up another ladder, up another ladder, down the passageway and outside to the main deck.įrom there we were constantly being sprayed with fire hoses, which uses seawater if you didn't know. There were about 300ish of us wogs on the ship, so there were long lines. This would be the last time we were dry for several hours. Then we crawled down the hall through the scullery where we were sprayed with warm water. They're made out of the same material our dinner plates are made out of. No naval breakfast would be complete without eggs, so two or three of them would be smashed onto our head while we had our face in the urinal "eating" breakfast. As far as I could tell, it was shredded raw potatoes with vinegar, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and olive juice. The shellback MS's (Mess Specialists as they're called in the Navy) spared no expense on our breakfast. So we crawled up the ladders and down the passageways to the mess deck. The Jolly Roger is raised instead of 'ole glory, and it's go time!įirst, it was time for breakfast. Then it was on your hands and knees, and you'd travel like this for the next 4 or 5 hours. We got up, put all our clothes on inside out and backwards, underwear on the outside, the whole nine yards. It was a little before 4am when the yelling, screaming, and banging started. This is when we were forced to entertain the royal court with music, poems, a beauty pageant, and dancing. The royal court includes King Neptune, his queen, Davy Jones, the royal baby, and other dignitaries. At least until a few hours after lunch when King Neptune and his Royal Court showed up. ![]() That morning us pollywogs rose up and staged a "mutiny" taking over the ship. It progressively worsened throughout the month until the day before we crossed the border. The shellbacks start to become rude to us slimy pollywogs, taunting us at every possible moment. I appeared before King Neptune and his royal court on July 22, 1991. The rest of this post I shall rate as MA. LOLĪs far as I know, every ship that crosses the equator has a ceremony of some sorts. Cause you know, probably shouldn't make the prez go through the whole thing. Even President Roosevelt became an "Honorary" Shellback. This was a way for sailors to prove they are seaworthy. When a ship crosses the equator, King Neptune comes aboard to exercise authority over his domain and to judge charges brought against Pollywogs that they are only posing as sailors and haven't paid proper homage to the god of the sea. In the ceremony, the sailor transforms from Slimy Pollywog, a mariner with no equator crossings, to a trusty Shellback, sometimes called a Son or Daughter of Neptune. It dates back over 400 years ago with the Viking and Spaniards. No one really knows when the line crossing ceremony started. I shall describe my own experience, but first a little history. You might want to describe it since the vast majority of us are unlikely to know what you're refering to! Your question implies non-civilian (so naval? any other categories?) ships do something.
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