Neptune Day

Tomorrow is our Neptune Day, which is probably the greatest excuse for a holiday off of classes you'll ever hear. The following are just a few of the points from the Wikipedia (one of our only free-access resources on the ship, blessed be) titled "Line-crossing ceremony." The link to the full article is copied at the bottom of this entry.



"The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and other navies that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. Originally, the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) Pollywogs."

"After crossing the line, Pollywogs receive subpoenas 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 seamen), 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. Afterwards, some wogs may be "interrogated" by King Neptune and his entourage, and the use of "truth serum" (hot sauce + after shave) and whole uncooked eggs put in the mouth. During the ceremony, the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; being locked in a water coffin of salt-water and bright green sea dye (fluorescent sodium salt); crawling through chutes or large tubs of rotting garbage; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, hair chopping, etc.), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks."

"Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status. Another rare status is the Golden shellback, a person who has crossed the Equator at the 180th meridian (International Date Line). When a ship must cross these lines, the ship's captain will usually intentionally plot a course across the Golden X so that the ship's crew can be initiated into the Golden Shellbacks."

"The rarest Shellback status is that of the Emerald Shellback (USA), or Royal Diamond Shellback (Commonwealth), which is received after crossing the Equator at the Prime Meridian."

"Similar "fraternities" in the navy include:

    * The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
    * The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
    * The Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors who have crossed the International Date Line.
    * The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
    * The Order of the Rock for sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
    * The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
    * The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.
    * The Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (where the Equator crosses the Prime Meridian)
    * The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
    * The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the earth.
    * The Order of the Lakes for sailors who have sailed on all five Great Lakes.

The USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42), under way to Rio De Janeiro, crossed the line on 4 July 1966, and its crew became known as "Star Spangled Shellbacks"; however, no previous mention of such honor has to date been located."



Join us on the flip side for what promises to be at the very least an incredibly amusing, a very probably highly embarrassing story or two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony