| Line-crossing Ceremony |
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Information AboutLine-crossing Ceremony |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LINE-CROSSING CEREMONY | |
| nautical lore | |
| naval ceremonies | |
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In the 19th Century and earlier, the line-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating "pollywogs" with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing the victims over the side of the ship, dragging the pollywog in the surf from the stern. In more than once instance, sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in a crossing the line ceremony. As late as World War II , the line crossing ceremony was still rather rough and involved activities such as the "Devil's Tongue" which would be an electrified piece of metal poked into the sides of those deemed pollywogs. Beatings were often still common, usually with wet firehoses, and several World War II Navy deck logs speak of untold sailors visiting Sickbay after crossing the line. Efforts to curtail the line crossing ceremony did not begin until the 1980s, when several reports of blatant Hazing began to circulate regarding the line crossing ceremony and at least one death was attributed to abuse while crossing the line. In 1995, a notorious line crossing ceremony took place on an Australian submarine HMAS ''Onslow'' . Sailors undergoing the ceremony were physically and verbally abused before being subjected to an act called "sump on the rump", where a dark liquid was daubed over each sailor's Anus and Genitalia . One sailor was then Sexually Assaulted with a long stick before all sailors undergoing the ceremony were forced to jump overboard until permitted to climb back aboard the submarine. A videotape of the ceremony was obtained by the Nine Network and aired on Australian television. The television coverage provoked widespread criticism, especially when the videotape showed some of the submarine's officers watching the entire proceedings from the conning tower. [http://www.milism.net/hotbunk.htm#cl Most navies have, since then, instituted regulations which prohibit physical attacks on sailors undergoing the crossing the line ceremony. In modern times, rather than a dreaded rite of initiation, the line crossing ceremony has become a popular tradition in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard . Line crossing ceremonies are also carried out on many U.S. Merchant Ships . However, without the oversight of military justice, they can often get out of hand and lead to the abuse and assault which occurred in line crossing ceremonies of the past. A popular patch has also been created for shellbacks, that depicts Neptune battling a Sea Serpent with his Trident . This is the text from a certificate issued on a Royal Navy ship during the Second World War : :''A Proclamation'' ''Whereas by our Royal Condension, Our Trusty, Well Beloved .................... has this day entered Our Domain. We do hereby declare to all whom it may concern that it is Our Royal Will and Pleasure to confer upon him the Freedom of the Seas without undue ceremony. Should he fall overboard, We do command that all Sharks, Dolphins, Whales, Mermaids and other dwellers in the Deep are to abstain from maltreating his person. And we further direct all Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen and others who have not crossed Our Royal Domain, to treat him with the respect due to One of Us. Given under Our Hand at Our Court on board H.M.S. (USS) .............. on the Equator in Longitude .....° on this ..... day of ..... in the year .....'' ''(Signed)'' ''Cancer — High Clerk'' ''Neptune — Rex'' Similar "fraternities" in the navy include:
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