Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash

Certificates verifying one has "crossed a line," whether it is the Equator, the Arctic Circle, or the International Date Line, are meaningless bits of paper without the colorful—and sometimes rambunctious—ceremonies that one must endure to earn them.

Although he was referring to the Royal Navy, when Winston Churchill allegedly said, "Don't talk to me about Naval Tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash," he could have been talking about any navy. The U.S. Navy has had its share of these traditions, and it spent years trying to transform itself into a force that stands in opposition to these vices. Newer traditions and standards have been added to change the face of the rough and rowdy crowd that used to sail the sea, including the "Qualifications of a Naval Officer," attributed to John Paul Jones, and "Laws of the Navy," which midshipmen study and memorize during plebe summer. Nevertheless, many traditions remain that are nonsensical, and the same arms that attempt to push away bad habits of the past fully embrace them.

There is something about tradition, no matter how ridiculous or silly, that demands it be kept alive. This is true especially of "crossing the line." This refers to many lines, but the most famous (or infamous) is the conversion that takes place when a person crosses the equator and goes from being a land-lubbing "pollywog" to a salty "shellback." There are numerous other indoctrinations coincident with other geographical features around the globe, and each has its own flavor, but one wonders if these are really traditions or more of Churchill's rum, sodomy, and the lash. Why do these traditions remain? The answer lies within the spirit of each of them. The key to keeping a Navy rich in tradition is finding the spirit of the tradition, maintaining what is good about it, and ensuring it survives. Actions and details may change through time, but the spirit should remain.

The conversion of a sailor from a pollywog to a shellback is the mother, so to speak, of crossing-the-line ceremonies. The shellback ceremony has changed gradually over the years, but it is based mostly on mythological characters, such as King Neptune, Davy Jones, Her Highness Amphitrite, the Royal Scribe, the Royal Doctor, and the Royal Dentist.² The basic premise is that Neptune requires a fee for using his ocean. After such a tax has been paid, and the pollywog is taken into the service of Neptune, he becomes a shellback and does not have to pay the toll again. The actual details from ceremony to ceremony can be quite different. Early accounts often included a separate ship or craft that came alongside, and Neptune and his servants then came on board to collect their toll.³ In more recent tradition, the ship's shellbacks dress and play the parts of those previously comprising the boarding party. Nearly all accounts include some sort of dunking in saltwater, being covered and crawling through filth, eating repulsive substances, and being hit with paddles, sections of hoses, or socks full of sand. Most also include some member having to dress as Aphrodite, and most pollywogs must kiss Neptune's or the Royal Baby's stomach—often covered in lard.

"One of the worst of them [traditions] was the 'Tube,'" one sailor explained. "The Shellbacks took a long (50 feet or so) piece of canvas, sewed it into a tube and filled it with garbage for a few days prior to the event. Then, they made a club of a tube of canvas sewn up at one end, filled with rice, sewed up the other end and soaked it in water. The Pollywogs were required to crawl through the garbage tube. The Shellbacks would hit anything that bumped the top."⁴

Overall, this tradition was and is very rough and disgusting, although those who have been through it almost unanimously praise it.⁵ Though the ritual is rigorous and, as some may say, unprofessional, it has some merit. "When it was all over," a sailor said of his experience, "you could take a deep breath and with great pride say: Now I am a Shellback."⁶

In addition to the shellback recognition, there are a multitude of other unofficial awards. There are similar rituals when one crosses the Arctic Circle.⁷ On finding oneself on the north side of 66°32'N latitude, you enter the "Northern Domain of the Polar Bear" and become a "blue nose."⁸ At this point you are "frozen stiff and are "entitled to all the privileges of this frozen realm of blizzards, including freezing, shivering, starving and any other privileged miseries that can possibly be bestowed.'"⁹ This award can be given to those in ships, but today it is much more common in the submarine community, where more time is spent in these icy waters. The antics of this ceremony are very much like those of the shellbacks. When crossing 66°32'S latitude, one enters the "Royal Domain of the Emperor Penguin" and earns the title "red nose."¹⁰

There are a number of other crossing-the-line ceremonies, including the "Golden Dragon" (180th meridian), "Mossback" (traversing Cape Horn), "Order of Magellan" (circumnavigating the globe), "Order of the Ditch" (Panama Canal), "Order of the Rock (Strait of Gibraltar), "Realm of the Czars" (Black Sea), and if you are unfortunate enough to spend 24 hours in a life raft, "Sea Squatter."" I recently joined the "Order of the Nervous Neutron" after being bathed in the blue light from the reactor core at the Armed Forces Radiological Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

The obvious question with each of these ceremonies is why the most powerful and professional navy in the world would allow such unprofessional, unrefined, and otherwise unnecessary behavior to become honored traditions. The answer is not so obvious. It is true that when subjected to a mechanical and mundane daily regimen, if there is no release, a person could break down. Many of these recognition ceremonies serve as tastes of freedom in the bland diet of duty. If there truly is good order and discipline and the rank structure is solid, then breaking loose for a few moments will not destroy that structure. Such traditions also instill pride, unity, and cohesion in a group when the monotony of work schedules is unlikely to do the same. No one writes home about the excitement felt after watching a gauge for three hours.

Could the Navy recognize an accomplishment without performing an official (and unprofessional) ceremony? In the case of the shellback and blue nose, the act of crossing the line without the ceremony hardly is worth much. Being handed a slip of paper and receiving the applause of shipmates would result only in another piece of paper that is swiftly tucked in a folder and forgotten. The ceremonies, however, make memories and turn a fairly menial and meaningless item into a treasure, not only to the one receiving it but also to that person's children. It is important not to lose sight of our humanity in our quest to be successful, lest we become more successful than we had planned but less human than we had dreamed.

Each tradition should be monitored and observed with an eye to ensure it does not become merely bad habit. Churchill may have had a point that many things in the Navy still have to do with drink, sexuality, and punishment, but naval traditions—though sometimes odd and unconventional—are a far cry from senseless revelry.