5 ms·

400 Years of Equator Hazings: Surviving the Wrath of King Neptune's Court

52 points by Thevet 10y ago

SocksCanClose 10y ago
Wog ratio on HN... probably north of 98%
- dctoedt 10y ago
  It's north of 98% everywhere, I'd think.
  - jessaustin 10y ago
    Probably not in Indonesia, Ecuador, or Somalia?
dctoedt 10y ago
In the U.S. Navy, the line-crossing initiation is voluntary, or at least it was when I was in, but it's kind of expected. One of my roommates aboard the USS Enterprise (the aircraft carrier) was an older warrant officer; he'd become a trusty shellback as an enlisted man, but when he got his warrant, the record was misplaced. So when we crossed the line, he went through the initiation again, with the rest of us slimy pollywogs, so that it'd be in his records again. He was a good sport about it.
- a3n 10y ago
  > the USS Enterprise (the aircraft carrier) Which Enterprise aircraft carrier? :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_United_States_Navy_named_Enterprise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_United_St... Interesting to see in that list that another Enterprise, CVN-80, is scheduled for service in 2025. Enterprise rent a cars was named after the earlier CV-6 Enterprise from WWII, on which the founder served. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Rent-A-Car https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Rent-A-Car I was also on the Enterprise (CVN-65), but I crossed the equator on the USS Badger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Badger_(FF-1071) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Badger_(FF-1071)
  - dctoedt 10y ago
    CVN-65, 1976-79, operating out of Alameda in the SFBA; two WestPac / Indian-Ocean deployments. I was also there at Norfolk for the inactivation ceremony in December 2012. They had tours of the ship; it was interesting to see it after 33 years. A lot had changed; a lot hadn't.
- hudibras 10y ago
  In the USN now, it's completely voluntary and there are very strict rules on what can occur during the ceremony. And probably close to 100% of the senior officers in the Navy are (at least privately) completely supportive of the new policy; the old initiation rituals were definitely illegal and were a constant source of concern for Navy leadership. In a crew of hundreds, there will always be a handful of honest-to-god sadists who would delight in the chance to pour hot sauce on wogs' genitals and make them crawl on hot non-skidded decks. So one trick the ships do now is to have a all-hands call to announce the ground rules, secretly note the names of everybody who complains about it being too lenient and then make sure that those guys are standing watch during the ceremony. P.S. Shellback since 1998...
  - jonah 10y ago
    About what percentage of wogs choose to go through initiation these days? Does it carry any cachet if they do vs. not?
LeChuck 10y ago
Great story. Having undergone the hazing on a Dutch merchant ship, what stands out to me is how similar the rituals are across countries. I had almost the exact same experience as the author, only including head shaving. P.S. Here is my certificate: http://imgur.com/TPcQ2zu http://imgur.com/TPcQ2zu. I always take it with me on board, don't feel a particular need to do it again.
RUG3Y 10y ago
I did some research on this recently, as part of a broader story on hazing rituals in the military. It's fascinating stuff. As a Marine, I've experienced and/or witnessed a fair amount of hazing. It's amazing how defensive people are about these traditions.
notliketherest 10y ago
Tangent: Sturgil Simpson has a great song about some of this called Sea Stories.
ZanyProgrammer 10y ago
Crap like this makes me glad I was in the Army.
sohkamyung 10y ago
Living in Singapore, which is just north of the Equator, I have no idea if the local Navy does this since crossing the equator must be a common occurrence. I would suspect the Indonesian navy doesn't as the country straddles the equator.
moron4hire 10y ago
I crossed a few times as a passenger on a boat in the Galapagos Islands. One of the Australian passengers made mention of it, but the Ecuadorian crew acted like they knew nothing about it. Kind of disappointed nothing was made out of it. That was also the time I drank the Vice Governor of Bermuda under the table. He, being a vain Scotsman, thought Americans knew nothing about whisky. I, being one who is not culturally retarded in the ways of the booze arts, correctly named the scotch in his flask as Lagavulin 16 year, and it was downhill from there. The Canadians wisely ducked out before we emptied that flask and the boat of wine and beer. The Scotsman called out sick for our morning tours. I was apparently still drunk by that point, because I felt great until about an hour into our second snorkeling trip. Thankfully, cold Pacific Ocean water and exercise are pretty good hangover cures.

52 points by Thevet 10y ago

SocksCanClose 10y ago

Wog ratio on HN... probably north of 98%

dctoedt 10y ago
It's north of 98% everywhere, I'd think.
- jessaustin 10y ago
  Probably not in Indonesia, Ecuador, or Somalia?

dctoedt 10y ago

In the U.S. Navy, the line-crossing initiation is voluntary, or at least it was when I was in, but it's kind of expected. One of my roommates aboard the USS Enterprise (the aircraft carrier) was an older warrant officer; he'd become a trusty shellback as an enlisted man, but when he got his warrant, the record was misplaced. So when we crossed the line, he went through the initiation again, with the rest of us slimy pollywogs, so that it'd be in his records again. He was a good sport about it.

a3n 10y ago
> the USS Enterprise (the aircraft carrier) Which Enterprise aircraft carrier? :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_United_States_Navy_named_Enterprise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_United_St... Interesting to see in that list that another Enterprise, CVN-80, is scheduled for service in 2025. Enterprise rent a cars was named after the earlier CV-6 Enterprise from WWII, on which the founder served. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Rent-A-Car https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Rent-A-Car I was also on the Enterprise (CVN-65), but I crossed the equator on the USS Badger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Badger_(FF-1071) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Badger_(FF-1071)
- dctoedt 10y ago
  CVN-65, 1976-79, operating out of Alameda in the SFBA; two WestPac / Indian-Ocean deployments. I was also there at Norfolk for the inactivation ceremony in December 2012. They had tours of the ship; it was interesting to see it after 33 years. A lot had changed; a lot hadn't.
hudibras 10y ago
In the USN now, it's completely voluntary and there are very strict rules on what can occur during the ceremony. And probably close to 100% of the senior officers in the Navy are (at least privately) completely supportive of the new policy; the old initiation rituals were definitely illegal and were a constant source of concern for Navy leadership. In a crew of hundreds, there will always be a handful of honest-to-god sadists who would delight in the chance to pour hot sauce on wogs' genitals and make them crawl on hot non-skidded decks. So one trick the ships do now is to have a all-hands call to announce the ground rules, secretly note the names of everybody who complains about it being too lenient and then make sure that those guys are standing watch during the ceremony. P.S. Shellback since 1998...
- jonah 10y ago
  About what percentage of wogs choose to go through initiation these days? Does it carry any cachet if they do vs. not?

LeChuck 10y ago

Great story. Having undergone the hazing on a Dutch merchant ship, what stands out to me is how similar the rituals are across countries. I had almost the exact same experience as the author, only including head shaving. P.S. Here is my certificate: http://imgur.com/TPcQ2zu http://imgur.com/TPcQ2zu. I always take it with me on board, don't feel a particular need to do it again.

RUG3Y 10y ago

I did some research on this recently, as part of a broader story on hazing rituals in the military. It's fascinating stuff. As a Marine, I've experienced and/or witnessed a fair amount of hazing. It's amazing how defensive people are about these traditions.

notliketherest 10y ago

Tangent: Sturgil Simpson has a great song about some of this called Sea Stories.

ZanyProgrammer 10y ago

Crap like this makes me glad I was in the Army.

sohkamyung 10y ago

Living in Singapore, which is just north of the Equator, I have no idea if the local Navy does this since crossing the equator must be a common occurrence. I would suspect the Indonesian navy doesn't as the country straddles the equator.

moron4hire 10y ago

I crossed a few times as a passenger on a boat in the Galapagos Islands. One of the Australian passengers made mention of it, but the Ecuadorian crew acted like they knew nothing about it. Kind of disappointed nothing was made out of it. That was also the time I drank the Vice Governor of Bermuda under the table. He, being a vain Scotsman, thought Americans knew nothing about whisky. I, being one who is not culturally retarded in the ways of the booze arts, correctly named the scotch in his flask as Lagavulin 16 year, and it was downhill from there. The Canadians wisely ducked out before we emptied that flask and the boat of wine and beer. The Scotsman called out sick for our morning tours. I was apparently still drunk by that point, because I felt great until about an hour into our second snorkeling trip. Thankfully, cold Pacific Ocean water and exercise are pretty good hangover cures.