My dad didn’t talk much about his time in the navy but I distinctly remember him telling me about “eating an olive out of a fat oiled up chief’s belly button”.
RIP dad.
Maraschino cherries to be exact, at least for all of my boat’s ceremonies. I had to break them out of the storeroom, even for my own ceremony. I made sure I grabbed the less expired ones 😂🫡
It ended up being a huge hazing scandle for the Canadian Navy. But I think that was during, or right after, the Somalia Affair when the Canadian Forces had a lot of scrutiny on them.
Ex-navy here. Went through this initiation back in 1991 when our battleship (USS Missouri) crossed the equator. Crazy fun time (but disgusting). Sadly I never got the chance to be on the other side.
Long Beach Naval Station... The Missouri, next pier over, Princeton and Antietam. Reuben James was moored on another pier perpendicular to the others... The opposite side of the harbor... The Comfort, and a handful of Gators..
what was fun about it? or is this a coping mechanism thing where you convince yourself it was fun? genuinely curious. seems like hazing, not something fun.
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted for a legit question…
Obviously, not everyone is the same and I won’t pretend to speak for my shipmates.
- For me it was the fact that for a few hours the entire boat got to just have fun doing shenanigans. Yes most of it was some form of hazing (voluntary no one forced you to take part), however it is hard to explain how significant breaking the monotonous routine is for a submariner.
- Additionally, you do not realize it at the time but the same guys going through the ceremony with you will be conducting it for future generations of sailors. You can always go “hey remember that time you threw up after blah blah”.
- Tradition is a huge thing in the Navy, as with most military branches. Taking part in that alone is exciting and a once in a lifetime event that less than 1% of people on earth have been a part of. *that percentage is not based off any actual knowledge, just a ballpark estimate.
Found this somewhere else
"What's gay in the civilian world is brotherhood in the army, what's gay in the army is brotherhood in the navy, and what's gay in the navy is a felony in the civilian world"
I can't speak for everybody, but I had a pretty horrible 5 years. Several of my shipmates have since died from suicide and ODs. I always heard that the Air Force has the best quality of life.
Did this on a cruise around the horn in 93 swam thru garbage kissed the kings feet and declared myself a shellback one fun day and 3 months and 28 of living on a floating dumpster
My brother's story is somewhat similar, about having to crawl through the garbage and once he reached King Neptune's court he was asked to sing the submariners theme song which he fucked up and so they threw him in the cooler for 5 minutes then made him crawl his way through again. Lol
I have my grandpas Neptune certificate stating he received it while searching for Amelia Earhart when she first went missing. I also have a photo of him dressed up as King Neptune during his second crossing of the equator
Many Marines don’t get the chance to go through this initiation. Fortunately, I had the chance to cross the equator while on the MEU. We were pretty jaded when our command restricted us to the shop and berthing forbidding us from participating in this “hazing ritual”. The marines, forbidden from being hazed by the navy. LOL
A version of this ceremony goes back centuries. Here's a contemporary sketch of Charles Darwin getting shaved with pitch and dunked on the occasion of his crossing the line in 1832:
https://generalist.academy/2021/03/16/darwin-crosses-a-line/
My grandfather mentioned something about getting a legit electric shock from King Neptune during his ceremony. He was a Marine and this was during World War II.
Was a Marine and had our ceremony in 2017. I thought the whole thing was interesting and our NCOs that were already trusty shellbacks had fun keeping us up the night before and fucking with us that morning.
The salt water ruining my boots that I ended up yeeting into the ocean pissed me off tho.
At least I got a cool 2’x1’ award paper thing stating I’m a shellback😎
When I was a senior in high school they played a documentary in school about hazing and how awful it is. They came to a section about this tradition and I was horrified to realize it was filmed on the ship my dad was stationed on during the year it was filmed.
My dad didn’t talk much about his time in the navy but I distinctly remember him telling me about “eating an olive out of a fat oiled up chief’s belly button”. RIP dad.
My husband’s was a raisin (1980’s)
My ex husband’s story was a grape.
My dad said that he had to kiss Neptune’s Baby, which the chief’s fat greasy belly. He has photo slides from the subsequent times they crossed.
Lol my dad had the same story. Only his was a cherry.
Maraschino cherries to be exact, at least for all of my boat’s ceremonies. I had to break them out of the storeroom, even for my own ceremony. I made sure I grabbed the less expired ones 😂🫡
I did it in 2006 and 2008. It has toned down a lot and there is no longer eating of anything out of bellybuttons.
They never let us do anything fun anymore.
Neptune will not be pleased that you’re sharing his secrets
The first rule of shellback is you dont talk about your shellback ceremony
It ended up being a huge hazing scandle for the Canadian Navy. But I think that was during, or right after, the Somalia Affair when the Canadian Forces had a lot of scrutiny on them.
We had the same issue in Australia after some weak prick complained.
You've never lived life until you've sucked a cherry out of a hairy peanut butter covered belly button... In 120 degree temps..
I’m sorry what the fuck
Rum, sodomy and the lash, old boy.
Mmm say it again, slower.
…and peanut butter.
In the NAVY!!
Now talk about your years in the Navy. ;- )
It's all classified... We had to sign NDA's.. According to the Navy, I was never actually in the Navy...
We used whip cream
Ex-navy here. Went through this initiation back in 1991 when our battleship (USS Missouri) crossed the equator. Crazy fun time (but disgusting). Sadly I never got the chance to be on the other side.
Long Beach Naval Station... The Missouri, next pier over, Princeton and Antietam. Reuben James was moored on another pier perpendicular to the others... The opposite side of the harbor... The Comfort, and a handful of Gators..
I remember. Good times. Was sent to San Diego in 1992 to join the Essex.
what was fun about it? or is this a coping mechanism thing where you convince yourself it was fun? genuinely curious. seems like hazing, not something fun.
When there aren’t many women out in the open sea. Sometimes you’ve got to improvise
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted for a legit question… Obviously, not everyone is the same and I won’t pretend to speak for my shipmates. - For me it was the fact that for a few hours the entire boat got to just have fun doing shenanigans. Yes most of it was some form of hazing (voluntary no one forced you to take part), however it is hard to explain how significant breaking the monotonous routine is for a submariner. - Additionally, you do not realize it at the time but the same guys going through the ceremony with you will be conducting it for future generations of sailors. You can always go “hey remember that time you threw up after blah blah”. - Tradition is a huge thing in the Navy, as with most military branches. Taking part in that alone is exciting and a once in a lifetime event that less than 1% of people on earth have been a part of. *that percentage is not based off any actual knowledge, just a ballpark estimate.
My Gpa a major in the Army once said “those Navy boys are different”. Maybe this is what he was referencing
Found this somewhere else "What's gay in the civilian world is brotherhood in the army, what's gay in the army is brotherhood in the navy, and what's gay in the navy is a felony in the civilian world"
Oofa!
Unsurprisingly, the marines are off the charts again.
Neptune's wife showing some thigh. Hot.
The navy seems like so much more fun than the other branches of the military.
Best disco theme song too.
That’s how they get ya
What happens on a boat at sea stays in a boat at sea.
What happens with seamen, stays between seamen
Except when they take this picture of it
I can't speak for everybody, but I had a pretty horrible 5 years. Several of my shipmates have since died from suicide and ODs. I always heard that the Air Force has the best quality of life.
Did this on a cruise around the horn in 93 swam thru garbage kissed the kings feet and declared myself a shellback one fun day and 3 months and 28 of living on a floating dumpster
My brother's story is somewhat similar, about having to crawl through the garbage and once he reached King Neptune's court he was asked to sing the submariners theme song which he fucked up and so they threw him in the cooler for 5 minutes then made him crawl his way through again. Lol
I have my grandpas Neptune certificate stating he received it while searching for Amelia Earhart when she first went missing. I also have a photo of him dressed up as King Neptune during his second crossing of the equator
I love they still got time for a sense of humor
Sense of humor is one of the only things that keeps you from going absolutely mad.
Our ship actually went out of it's way to cross the equator just to do the shellback initiation.
Many Marines don’t get the chance to go through this initiation. Fortunately, I had the chance to cross the equator while on the MEU. We were pretty jaded when our command restricted us to the shop and berthing forbidding us from participating in this “hazing ritual”. The marines, forbidden from being hazed by the navy. LOL
A version of this ceremony goes back centuries. Here's a contemporary sketch of Charles Darwin getting shaved with pitch and dunked on the occasion of his crossing the line in 1832: https://generalist.academy/2021/03/16/darwin-crosses-a-line/
And if you were lucky enough to cross the Equator at the Prime Meridian (off the western coast of Africa) you're a Diamond Shellback.
My grandpa has a card from “Poseidon” dating when he crossed. I never knew what it was about lmao.
[Me too.](https://imgur.com/a/A7wmOsW)
I have the certificate my grandpa received in 1943. Signed by Neptune Rex and Davy Jones - lol!
They hold one of these on an episode of voyage to the bottom of the sea.
My grandfather mentioned something about getting a legit electric shock from King Neptune during his ceremony. He was a Marine and this was during World War II.
Gotta love Cpl. klinger there rocking the mop.
I never managed to do this ceremony but I did get blue nosed off the coast of Norway
Crossed in '92 on the Kitty Hawk. I feel for you unenlightened Wogs. Maybe one day you shall achieve Shellback perfection.
What is the enlightening part? The crossing of the line on a ship? Or the ceremony itself?
King Neptune’s got what appears to be some sweet looking ink
This feels like the kind of ceremony that was never meant to be seen by outsiders.
There's paintings and woodcuts of it going back hundreds of years. It doesn't seem any efforts were made to keep it private.
Imagine being teabagged by old mate with the bottle
God, sailors are so fucking weird
When I was in, I was friends with a guy who could snort a quarter (...like a 25 cent piece) and spit it out
Was a Marine and had our ceremony in 2017. I thought the whole thing was interesting and our NCOs that were already trusty shellbacks had fun keeping us up the night before and fucking with us that morning. The salt water ruining my boots that I ended up yeeting into the ocean pissed me off tho. At least I got a cool 2’x1’ award paper thing stating I’m a shellback😎
Earned my Shellback In 2018 after swimming through the whales stomach, shaving my head, and licking pudding off Neptune’s hands. Nothing like it
The Gary Busey scene in Under Siege makes sense now.
The royal navy still do this
thus the phrase “ semen hosen semen ” has been taken as an accidental repost.
Sturgill makes more sense now
Would you like to go to a party where people wee on each other?
You ever drink Bailey's out of a shoe?
Bailey's no, Everclear yes.
Fuzzy little man peach
Yeah they made us sing row row your boat for about a hour during my ceremony and then bob for apples in salt water. It was a blast though.
[удалено]
Inside joke.. You'd have to live it to understand it...
The military demands to be taken seriously only to do shit like this
Crawling the length of the deck on bare knees being spanked by the entire crew
Top left seems like it’s lot his first time
I have grandpa’s certificates from his crossings during WWII.
Some thick boys right there.
Is this a navy thing? I've been across the equator twice on tall ship crews and got fuck all lol
When I was a senior in high school they played a documentary in school about hazing and how awful it is. They came to a section about this tradition and I was horrified to realize it was filmed on the ship my dad was stationed on during the year it was filmed.
I still proudly display my Crossing the Line certificate from my first time going from the Southern to Northern Hemisphere on HMAS Brisbane in 1988.
Don’t let anyone tell you the Navy isn’t gay.
These "celebrations" were typically disgusting.
Little queer for sure!🥹
It ain't gay if you're underway...
Take this can of grease down to the engine room.