Crossing the line
Crossing the Line, in which veteran Sons of Neptune, termed Shellbacks, initiate Pollywogs, sailors who have never crossed the Equator, into the Kingdom of Neptune upon their first time reaching that line, has been around since at least the 1800s and has been celebrated in a number of navies. It has remained even as warships moved from oak and canvas to iron and steam and now non-skid and gas turbines.
Here are a few from the U.S., German and RN fleets from the last century.
Neptune, Amphitrite and the rest of the court on the USS Alabama for ceremonies on January 5th, 1908
Crossing the line 1920s, likely a RN vessel. From the NSW Archives
Barbers of Neptune! Crossing the Line ceremony on USS Nereus
The Doctor, Dentist, and Scribe of Neptunus Rex taken during a Crossing the Line ceremony on USS Nereus
U177
U177
U177
Crossing in the U-177, WWII
Celebration of Neptune on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise 1940s
Equator crossing ceremony aboard Wasp, Jul 1942
USS George Washington (CVN 73) – WOG DAY!! 2013
My novel, “Sedulity 1: Impact” begins with a Line Crossing ceremony aboard a cruise ship (just before an asteroid strikes the Central Pacific Ocean). 🙂
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Hi there,
We were wondering where you found the image representing “Neptune, Amphitrite and the rest of the court on the USS Alabama for ceremonies on January 5th, 1908”? We are trying to locate the copyright holder or source for this image for a publication that would like to use the image. Your blog is the only website I have found this image on. Any info you have would be much appreciated!
Thank you,
Alyssa
It came from the excellent Great White Fleet website in 2015 (it’s an old post). They went offline years ago. I think my (digital) copy is the oldest one left at this point. Thus is the way of the interwebs…
https://web.archive.org/web/20130305035424/http://www.greatwhitefleet.info/First_Leg_Crossing-the-Line.htm
I appreciate the quick response!!