I'm no longer a Pollywog!

As we sail away from Sao Tome and Principe, we will celebrate a line (Equator) crossing ceremony – the Order of the Shellback. Today's Currents explains how the ceremony commemorates a sailor’s first crossing of the Equator. It was originally created by sailors as a test of new shipmates to see if they were capable of handling long, arduous times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are called Trusty Shellbacks, or Sons of Neptune. Those who have not crossed the equator are called Slimy Pollywogs (or “Wogs”).

 

our Cruise Director Ray

some seasoned sailors

King Neptune & Highness Amphitrite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the King's entourage

 

that's a big fish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below is the explanation of the ceremony which will take place on the ship shortly after we sail today.

The ceremony is a ritual of reversal in which the older, experienced enlisted crew essentially takes over the ship from the officers. The controlled “chaos” of the ‘Pollywog Revolt’ takes control and then re-order is established in the initiation rites as Shellbacks convert the Wogs through physical tests. Similar to boot camps, the initiation covers inexperienced Wogs into experienced Shellbacks. Minor physical assaults used to be the normal but have been prohibited in recent years.

 

Pollywog has to kiss the fish!

Ray seems to be enjoying it a little too much!

 

The eve of the equatorial crossing is called ‘Wog Day’ where Wogs are allowed to capture and interrogate Shellbacks, by typing them up, cracking eggs or pouring aftershave lotion on their heads and so on. The Wogs are aware that it will be much harder on them during the initiation if they do anything like this. After the ship crosses the line, the ‘Jolly Roger’ flag is hoisted, and Pollywogs receive subpoenas to appear before the Royal family, which consists of King Neptune and his wife Highness Amphitrite, and the Royal Baby. Also in attendance are Davy Jones, the Royal Barber who uses a hand clipper to cut Wog hair, and other Shellbacks dressed as characters, such as pirates.

 

kiss kiss!

some really gross stuff in the hair

from Pollywog to Shellback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Various charges are levied against the Pollywogs. Some Wogs may be “interrogated” by King Neptune and his entourage who use “truth serum” to encourage telling the truth. During the ceremony, Wogs undergo a number of increasingly embarrassing ordeals for the entertainment of the Shellbacks, such as wearing clothing inside out and backwards, crawling on hands and knees on nonskid-coated decks, being swatted with a short length of wet fire hose called a “shalaylee”, being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit, being locked in a water coffin of salt water and bright green sea dye (fluorescent sodium salt), crawling through chutes “The Tube” or large tubs  (the Royal Bath) of rotting garbage, and kissing the Royal Baby’s (the fattest Shellback) belly that has been coated with mustard or other nasty stuff.

Once the ceremony is complete, Wogs are hosed down and each received a certificate declaring his new status as a Shellback. This certificate is cherished as proof of initiation so it does not need to be endured again. Submariners often become “Top Secret Shellbacks” having crossed the Equator at a classified degree of longitude.

 

kissing the fish - the final step of initiation

thankfully, only newer ship staff had to be initiated

being doused with water

...and now for the spaghetti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 19^th century and earlier, the line-crossing ceremony was quite a brutal event, often involving beating pollywogs with boards and wet ropes and sometimes throwing them over the side of the ship and dragging them in the surf from the stern. Sailors were reported to have been killed while participating in these old line-crossing ceremonies.

As late as WWII, the line-crossing ceremony was still rather rough and involved activities such as the “Devil’s Tongue,” which was an electrified piece of metal poked into the sides of those deemed pollywogs. Beatings were often still common, usually with sections of dry rather salt-hardened fire hoses or canvas tubes filled with wet rice. WWII Navy deck logs speak of sailors visiting sickbay after crossing the line. Beginning in the 1980’s, all forms of hazing began being strictly controlled. Today’s line-crossing ceremonies are relatively tame; rather than a dreaded rite of initiation, they have become a popular tradition.

 

King Neptune pronounces them Shellbacks!