Hale (DD 642) - Naval Cruise Book

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King Neptunes court was set up on the fantail in waiting for the first Pollywog. The Shellbacks had already set up their paddle line and I was the first Pollywog shoved through. After being swatted through the line, one end of me was as red as a beet. The concoc- tion the Royal Doctor made me drink, I forgot my bottom and started spitting from the top. Then I got read off by the Royal Court. Yep, I was found guilty on all counts. Punishment! Man, what punish- ment! Taking a drink out of the Royal Baby ' s bottle was bad enough but having to kiss his greasy belly really took the cake. The end? Hell, no! I still had to inch my way through a garbage pit on my belly, with the Shellbacks taking up with their paddles where they had left off. I didn ' t know whether the dunking afterward was the end of the ceremony or just to wash off the garbage. But after being pulled out of the tub and officially told I was a Shellback, I took my rightful place at the end of the Paddle Line. i

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The HALE pulled into Singapore, but it was another of those deals where we used up half of our liberty getting to Fleet Landing by boat. Most of the population was Chinese, but there were also some Indians and Malyaans. Some of us did get to see some Indian snake charmers on the way to the Britannia Club, where we went swimming in the afternoon with dancing and drinks that night. Personally I was glad to get underway to Colombo, Ceylon. . | | -to. mg sea, ans. E