Knapp (DD 653) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 40 text:

' u 9010055 Lookmg for the lme XNGVJOWQ, 'tif im, , - , , vr , In ' . I . 'Q F .. W Officer of the ...,........ and his worthy assistant The Royal Pair 000 was OWS 0,0 W H 'H , ',, yt un NS mme 0

Page 39 text:

According to maritime tradition, the ceremony upon crossing the mythical line of the originated with the Vikings and has been anded down from generation to generation of sail- or was saffsaii .gzatssiiy rife az me known 0 1 eriv ,. many o er an- ' t traditions, this ceremony is the result of the :ifgerstitions of the Vikings, xAngles, Normans and Saxons combined with the universal derire of man to initiate his fellows into one secret group or an- th . 0 elt was once the practice to hold certain initia- tion ceremonies upon crossing the thirtieth parallel and also on passing through the Straits of Gibraltar. These were primarily parties by and for the crew, d ' which the 'old salts' would test the mettle of tlrllglllilfgiunger and less experienced seamen in order to etermine whether or not the novices were capable of enduring the rigors of the sea-faring life. This aspect of the ceremony was combined with other historic practice to roduce the present-day :gain The mythological god, of the seas, Neptune, was appeased by the seamen in special ceremonies of propiation andbmarkp pf resplect were Silso paid to the various mem ers o is un erwater omain. Toda those who have previously acrossed the line' are known as shellbacks whereas the uninitia- ted are referred to as ollywogsv. The eldest and most di nified shellbackE is usuall selected to la 3 Y P Y the part of Neptunus Rex, his first assistant is Davy ones and the others in the Royal Court include Her liighness Amphitrite, the Royal Scribe, the Royal Doctor, the Royal Dentist, a Royal Baby and the Devil. As soon as the mythical 'linei is sighted by the lookouts, the ashellbac s assume their roles and take over the ship - their humble task is to make as permanent an impression as possible ffuponf-the. -in- coming members of the Ancient Order of the Deepn. For everything you've gotta wait. You've gotta wait in line to get in the outfit and you've gotta wait to get out. You've gotta wait in chow lines and youive gotta wait in pay lines. You gotta wait for boats to go ashore, you ve gotta wait for boats to get back. Wait - shuflie forward a couple of steps and wait some more. ............. . Get up cjpllck-like at 0530, huiigy up, put your ppnts on bac ards and eat brea ast. Hurry up! urry u to the foc,sle and wait. l Well? the waitin' is just about over now. The blindfold is on, and as you shuffle forward you can hear the shouting ahead and the sporadic pop! popl pop! of ianvas shillalah applied to the south end of some po ywog, Before you have much more time to contemplate th0tE0pl pop! popl, some mug grabs you by the back of e neck and shouts at you to get down on your Sees. That's the beginning, brother, that's when it arts. The popping starts again, only this time each POP means a red welt on that part of you your Crossing the Line Ceremony 1 mother used to pat when you were a babe in arms and had to be burped. 'What's your name a voice shouts, and you give it to him loud and clear. Po ! popl pop! But that's not enough, etiquette demangs that it be preceded by pollywog and followed by sir . 6 'WVhat's your name? Well, answer me! 'Louder! , comes the voice. Po ! Pop! Pop! What's your name? Speak up! Stand still! QStand still? Take that high tension wire off my back, you oof, and then l'1l stand stillln. Are you guilty of Siese charges? Speak up, man! 'Yesl' 'Yes, what? Po ! Pop! Pop! ! Okay, crawl away. And you crawl away, kiss the Royal Princess - hmmmmmm - Well, you kiss the Royal Princess where few princesses have ever been kissed and then plant a big smooch on the hairy bell frubbed with rotted liverj of the Royal Baby andy wind up with your face immersed in a bucket of grease. No more waiting here, brother, this is the ap- plioged Henry Ford and GMC dis-assembly line me- t O . From a salt water rinse of you pulverized bot- tom, you step into a boat and start rowing. Row , a new voice. Row, dammitn So you row. From San Diego to Hawaii you row. From Yokosuka to Singapore you row, and the voice yells, afasterli' Come on, row! Faster, faster! You must have ar- rived somewhere, because someone has you by both arms lifting you out of the boat. This man looks sick! fBuster, I'm not sick, I'm deadj. Better send him to the hospital. Since the Royal Hos ital is just a hop, skip and a jump away, you hop, skip and jump - fa very hot deck and bare feet necessitate this mode oftravelj - over to see the Royal Doctor. You say Ah , have a brush, thick with grease, thrust into your gaping mouth, have grease rubbed on our back an a soap-powder and flour mixture rubbed into your hair. No physical check-up is complete without without a visiit to the dentist. So, s itting and sputtering, you are dispatched to the Royall Dentist where various concoctions of mustard and pepper and the like are added to your greased alate. P Upon leaving the dentist, and clearing your your mouth, by expectoration or regurgitation, of all foreign matter, you proceed down e deck to walk the plank. After walking the plank into a canvas but full of water, you once more find yourself pounded on your now very tender bottom and more questions. More questions and much dunkingl until, soaked and bedrag led, you gasp out the rig t answer and are dragged out and sent before Davy jones. A touch of his sword and a muttered phrase and you stand be- fore mand and beast the highest and most exalted creature on God's earth - a Shellback! I

Page 41 text:

,Q QW 1 AH' I avi? Ill HI n Nl m M vs' fn , J ,1 ,m 1 -M, 1 f X-,if X M 'te .VL 41' Q was S 46,10