View Full Version : Crossing The Line
usnpinoy
06-04-2007, 22:25
Just out of curiousity... how many Trusty Shellbacks do we have here at Corpsman.com? I, myself crossed the line in 2005, and will be assisting my fellow Shellbacks with upcomming festivities as my ship heads towards Austrailia for a little port-call.
old navy
06-05-2007, 03:48
I crossed in the early 80's before initiations of any kind were watered down. I was an HM2 on a DDG. I was the third to go through that day. My CO was first, followed by my Chief, then me. I'm also a Blue Nose, transited the Panama Canal, Suez Canal, and crossed the international date line.
Became Shellback as a Marine back in 1974. Went through the Navy's old ceremony with the babies stomach. We were close to Singapore when we crossed.
Was on board the USS New Orleans LPH11 as a member of the battalion Landing Team.
Afraid to ask but here goes - - - what makes you a Shellback and what happens when you become one??? :D
DeeDee;
You cross over from being a pollywog to a full fledged 'shellback' once you cross the equator, on board a ship and go through the ceremonies. What ceremonies you ask! Shucks, can't tell a pollywog what the shellback ceremonies are about. But you may google it and see what comes up. lol
crazycajun
06-05-2007, 18:20
I crossed the line on USS Ranger (CV-61) in 1991. Special Case I was....LOL
God I remember the "Royal Baby"...not 2 good
I too crossed through the Panama Canal and Suez Canal. Never made it far enough north to get the "Blue Nose". I've circum navigated the globe on the water, though not in one trip (Via West Pac, Carb Pac, and Med Float).
Crazy;
I was in Subic Bay '1974' when the Ranger was there.
Yea, we had three Royal Babies to attend to. lol
We had some Marines who tried to defy the Navy and were getting physical and argumentative about attending the ceremonies. 1MC called for 'Tiny' to report to the Marine Corps berthing area. When 'Tiny' showed up he was this 6'6" sailor about 320 lbs who grabbed the two Marines, one on each side of him, and carried them kicking and scratching all the way to the flight deck. lol
Man, those were the times.
Thanks for sharing your memories Guys :)
DeeDee
coastie16
06-26-2007, 14:45
Crossed into Neptunes crew of the Golden Shellback on the USCGC Polar Star in 1999 en route to Antarctica to chomp some ice. What a fun time getting all that Peanut Butter outta my hair! The life of a WOG! :p
usnpinoy
07-08-2007, 05:42
We had a nice attempt at a Wog Rebellion the night prior, but those who initiated it were delt with accordingly! Since my Chief was a wog, I was elected to the Royal Court as the Royal Physician and got to give the last judgement prior to the wogs kneeling before Neptune. We even got to stretch the rules a bit to keep it a little more traditional than most, so a great time was had by all.
Welcome to the Royal Order of the Deep HM2. How's the Yaki-Soba there in Yokasuka?
Paul's dad
07-08-2007, 09:39
USS INDEPENDENCE CV-62 1979.
Found a clip on UTUBE, Wog Day 1990, (a litle less extreme) AHHH those were the days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHOVRBgUlFc
Great post and excellent video. Brought back many fantastic memories for me.
OMG - that was GREAT!!!!
Thanks for finding that and sharing it
DeeDee
since Im finally back on line I can catch up.I crossed in 1986 as member of Deck Dept (2nd div),also on the USS New Orleans LPH-11.Just before I went to medical as a stricker.
DOCSpanky
07-26-2007, 08:32
Blue Nose only..... my ship only sailed in big circles looking for sewer pipes. But while stationed in Iceland, I was able to cross into the great north, and roll the egg down the aisle of the P-3 whilst being "tanned".
SteveDS1
07-26-2007, 09:23
I crossed in 1976 on the USS Oklahoma City, 95% of the crew were already shellbacks. Us pollywogs got lots of attention on those two days of "festivities".
Crossed between Borneo and Sulawesi on the way to Australia from homeport in Japan, this was also my very first cruise.
If for some reason you're on board a U.S. Navy ship during your Navy career, and if the ship just so happens to "cross the line", (equator) then yes you will be "invited", (hee hee) to attend the festivities.
ha ha ha ha, I can see you now Andi, going through the initiation.
pegasusHM
08-08-2007, 20:06
Can't say I ever "Crossed the line"...17 years and never been on a ship.
I've been told that I "Crossed the line" but I was NEVER on a ship when they told me that :D
Hmmmm
puckmedic
08-09-2007, 20:45
Shell Back here
Also initiated British Wogs into the family. I was on a FFG helping the medical officer train his new medics. Loved having my one beer at meal time and two more in the mess later that day.
coastie16
08-17-2007, 19:26
Babies Stomach???? I thought it was a Whale!!
All I know...is...t was NASTY.....rotton.....$hit the messcooks, cooks could possibly throw in there!
:chat:
Da-Chief
08-17-2007, 19:51
Ahhhh Smells Like the old Initiation days..
;-)
HMC
Ahhhh Smells Like the old Initiation days..
Chief, according to what I've read from MCPON Campa, he's trying to put the boots to the old initiation rituals. Professionalism, not hazing is the watchword anymore. I think the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy must not have enjoyed his initiation. We should all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
JarheadJohn
08-27-2007, 09:19
LOL. I became a shellback officially when deployed to UNITAS on the USS Trenton. Now, this time around I can sit back and watch, and can't wait to hear my poor Wog Wife's story on how she got tortured!:D
Doc_Booze
09-21-2007, 13:38
Crossed back in '92 on the USS Okinawa heading to Perth.
puckmedic
10-21-2007, 10:45
MCPON wants to stop things like shell back initiation? As a shellback, I'm appalled. It was a fun experience. It was designed to be fun and allow a certain humility to be placed upon you. Anything that makes you humble and recognize you really are nothing in this world until you pass measure is a good thing.
Tell the MCPON to go count how many paperclips the admin folks are using and leave real sailors alone to do what they do- try to have a little fun (both wogs and shellbacks DO have fun) to alleviate the stress of sea duty. Believe me, there's nothing I love talking about to civilians than days like WOG day. They think we're all wierd mutants!! Apprently the MCPON thinks that's so true too
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY NAVY?? No one ever got even a bruise on my wog day. Yet we all had fun the shell backs more so than us wogs but still I enjoyed it.
Doc_Stevens
12-31-2007, 14:57
Crossed in 1988 on the way over to Persian Gulf on USS Sides (FFG-14). We took up a full complement of personnel from reserves who wanted to deploy for six months and had a bunch of WOGS. Had a blast and wouldn't trade it for the world.
Just out of curiousity... how many Trusty Shellbacks do we have here at Corpsman.com?
Shellback here also. Aboard the USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) in February 1992 from Singapore to Bali.
I was on her TAD from the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka Japan. The Blue Ridge was taking a few female passengers out and needed a female doc to ride along (before the Blue Ridge became coed). They came to my CMC and asked him for one and he knew how badly I wanted a ship (we had discussions about his shipboard duties before). I have always spent my sea time on the green side with the jarheads ... so a ship was something I was missing for my Chief's package and we had discussed that. I'm glad I had taken the time to talk to him about it, because I had, my name was the first to come to his mind. Adding that TAD time AND the Shellback certificate to my package a few months later GOT ME CHIEF THAT YEAR! It sure didn't hurt!
So for 32 days I rode her from Yokosuka, down to Sasebo, to Singapore, parked it one day on the equator and then dipped down to Bali with one leg burnt. ;)
What I learned after I came back, something I suspected while onboard but never 'officially' had it confirmed, was that I was carrying another passenger aboard. So my daughter is an 'Honorary' Shellback AND Chief as well. All that crawling around in that stuff without anything for seasickness and I still held my stomach strong. Loved it! I really enjoyed the experience!
Ahhhh Smells Like the old Initiation days..
Chief, according to what I've read from MCPON Campa, he's trying to put the boots to the old initiation rituals. Professionalism, not hazing is the watchword anymore. I think the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy must not have enjoyed his initiation. We should all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.
Ahhh horse shit! I cannot believe how pansy-assed we're becoming. We're all becoming too damned "PC" these days. If you don't want to experience it then keep your ass below deck. By him saying this he's being more PC than he is a Chief or a Sailor!
MCPON wants to stop things like shell back initiation? As a shellback, I'm appalled. It was a fun experience. It was designed to be fun and allow a certain humility to be placed upon you. Anything that makes you humble and recognize you really are nothing in this world until you pass measure is a good thing.
EXACTLY! It WAS fun as well as something to be proud of. Like us here right now in this thread ... we share a common experience that we're proud of. We earned it and it builds a rapport. You don't do that when you're all sterile about everything. Geeesshhh!
Tell the MCPON to go count how many paperclips the admin folks are using and leave real sailors alone to do what they do- try to have a little fun (both wogs and shellbacks DO have fun) to alleviate the stress of sea duty.
Thats so true ... it was a nice break from driving around in circles and drilling. The steeldeck picnic that followed was a really nice time, too. I'm beginning to think that MCPON didn't enjoy his Chief's Initiation either. I wonder if he was one of the pusses?
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY NAVY??
We left.
puckmedic
01-19-2008, 06:54
I'm laughing "we left" just rolled me over! Well, I hear tell they let folks decide if they want to participate or not. Just silly, who ever heard of a WOG ha ving any say in their poor pitiful existence?
docjeep371
01-23-2008, 20:58
I crossed the line off the coast of Borneo in 1969 aboard the USS Eldorado AGC-11. The ceremony was much like any that other shellbacks went through, so there's not much to elaborate on.
The Capt of our ship was a really good guy and a Navy Cross winner in WWII. He passed the word that in the crossing events was purely voluntary. We had a Photographers Mate 3rd who chose not to participate. After the initiation, several deck personnel decided that they would initiate the non participants themselves. Several of them cornered the PM3 below decks. Unknown to them, the PM carried a box knife. When they came after them he slashed out with the knife and cut on of the guys across the arm. Unfortunately the cut was across the head of a tattoo of a panther, neatly decapitating it. It took twenty some odd stitches and a lot of extra time to get the head back on the body of the panther.
Three days later we pulled into port. I had duty first night in and was awaken by a lot knock on the Sickbay door. "Hey Doc you gotta see this" --it was the sailor with the panther tattoo....he had had a leash and collar tattooed into the fresh scar tissue to hid the cut. I cringe everytime I think of getting a tattoo in fresh scar tissue! I was around a lot of tough Marines during my tour of duty and I was also around at least one tough sailor!!
Jeep
Jeep ... you just gave me a great idea for another good thread for us corpsman .. considering we see it all. :D
puckmedic
02-03-2008, 07:23
what happened to the PM3? Of course he was only defending himself. Now I know that i disagree with him not participating, but let me put that aside.
Those guys should have left it alone. What they did amounts to attempted battery
docjeep371
02-05-2008, 20:29
As best as I can remember, nothing happened to the PM3. The other guys who participated got their butts chewed by the XO, but it was written off as just good fun that got out of hand. As far as battery, probably by the letter of the law, it was. But there was many more cases that were better described as battery or assault than this one. This was just a prank that went too far. The PM was not harrassed anymore, but few people agreed with what he did, myself included.
I went across in 1971 while serving in the USS OKLAHOMA CITY(CLG5)
which was flag ship of the 7th Fleet homeported in Yokosuka I was a HMCS
who had made 3 trips to RVN (CB's and 7th Marines)andhad been a east coaster on prior sea duty. I can assure you kaki is not the color to wear on a ship that crosses the line yearly
I also crossed the line in 72,73,74,75,76 rest assured it better to cross as a shell back than as a polywog
JIm SMITH HMCM USN RET
I went across in 1971 while serving in the USS OKLAHOMA CITY(CLG5)
which was flag ship of the 7th Fleet homeported in Yokosuka I was a HMCS
Jim,
The USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) was the flag ship for the 7th fleet at the time I crossed as well.
Sailor_Joe
04-17-2008, 10:29
If you will allow me to play my Newb card, what defines or makes one a blue nose? Thanks for the definition on the shellback by the way.
If you will allow me to play my Newb card, what defines or makes one a blue nose? Thanks for the definition on the shellback by the way.
Tradition
In traditions associated with Sailors and Marines crossing the Arctic Circle line, there was a "raucous and rowdy" initiation presided over by those who had crossed the line before, known as "Order of the Blue Nose". The eldest Sailor was called King Neptune, and the next eldest was his assistant who was called Davy Jones. Some form of hazing would be carried out by the senior crewmen.
"Blue Nose" Crossing of the Arctic Circle (66-32 North latitude).
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluenose
I was honored to have audience with King Neptune on 22 January 67, just past the Straits of Borneo, on the USS Franklin D Roosevelt.
There were many polywogs besides myself, but there was an abundance of shellbacks to gently guide us with cut-off sections of wet fire hose in our obeisances. Some of us, myself included, were doubly honored to kiss the greased belly of The King's progeny, an erstwhile Bos'n's Mate of conspicuous notoriety and malodor.
The last grace given us was a pleasant swim in a sluice of tallow, crankcase gleanings, and galley swill hoarded over two weeks in anticipation of the occasion.
There was one poor junkyard rat that refused to meet the King, and he was shunned forever after that.
My shellback certificate hangs here in my lair, among other treasured items.
For each, I give thanks: they spool up the memories that without their invocation, would have faded from my addled brain.
Maccs
Shiplife = scary :weye:
I think im crazy to be considering it, lol
Taylor ... a lot of things in life are "scary". But it adds spice in your life and once the "unknown" is experienced? It often times isn't as "scary" as you thought it might be.
KentuckyBoy
04-24-2008, 09:31
Became a shellback in March of 08 when going from Okinawa to Indonesia. Thank goodness I don't have to do that as anything above an E3
puckmedic
04-28-2008, 14:36
Scary? Scary is walking down a dark alley in a foriegn port. Scary is realizing the throttle is stuck and the front brake is dead and the back brake just slows ya to 55MPH. Scary is the realization that you are about to get pounded by three guys, in a back alley in your home port, because you heard someone crying out for help(trap).
These are things I have had happen to me in the past. WOG DAY ain't scary, its fun. Wonder if the Navy will,one day abolish it like anything else that some folks can think of as abusive. Next thing we know, boot bcamp will be a simple written test.
...Next thing we know, boot bcamp will be a simple written test.
ha ha ha That is too funny Puck!
Shipboard life for me, was exciting. Of course, I've always loved the ocean and a ship was only the means to get me closer to her.
The rolling of the ship gently lolls you off to sleep, the red light aglow in the sleeping compartment. Ah......those were some fun days.
Liberty in foreign ports can be dangerous, but the use of the buddy system and using common sense will help to keep you out of trouble. The important thing is to know your surroundings a the port you are visiting.
dvldocjoe
04-29-2008, 09:17
I did my shellback with the crew of USS Comstock while on CARAT from May 1999 to October 1999. I think it was toned down quite a bit from the previous years but still quite enjoyable. Its a right of passage needing to be preserved even though some had the option of not doing it.
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