trivia

the buttons were soon realized, and in short order, London tailors were adding decorative buttons to frocks, coats, and dinner jackets. Though the buttons have become less gaudy, the practice continues.

Pass the Hat To make a collection on behalf of a distressed person or people. Taken from William Maginn's Tales of Military Life, 1829 "Having sent round the hat for the benefit of the poor and half petrified". Later referred to by entertainers and religious perofrmers who used a hat to collect their money. This procedure helped create other hat terms such as "talking through your hat", "hat in hand" and "old hat".

Passing Honors Passing honors are ordered by ships and boats when vessels, embarked officials, or embarked officers pass (or are passed) close aboard - 600 yards for ships, 400 yards for boats. Such honors are exchanged between ships of the U.S. Navy, between ships of the Navy and the Coast Guard, and between U.S. and most foreign navy ships passing close aboard.

"Attention" is sounded, and the hand salute is rendered by all persons in view on deck (not in ranks).

Pea Coat Sailors who have to endure pea soup weather often don their pea coats but the coat's name isn't derived from the weather. The heavy topcoat worn in cold, miserable weather by seafaring men was once tailored from pilot cloth - a heavy , course, stout king of twilled blue cloth with the nap on one side. The cloth was sometimes called P-cloth for the initial letter of the word and the garment made from it was called a p-jacket - later a pea coat. The term has been used since 1723 to denote coats made from that cloth.

Port holes The word "port hole" originated during the reign of Henry VI of England (1485).

King Henry insisted on mounting guns too large for his ship and the traditional methods of securing these weapons on the forecastle and aftcastle could not be used. A French shipbuilder named James Baker was commissioned to solve the problem. He put small doors in the side of the ship and mounted the cannon inside the ship. These doors protected the cannon from weather and were opened when the cannon were to be used. The French word for "door" is "porte" which was later Anglicized to "port" and later went on to mean any opening in the ship's side, whether for cannon or not.

Right Arm Rates Established in 1841 and disestablished 2 April 1949, originally signified men of the Seaman branch. During W.W.II these rates included Boatswains Mate, Turret Captain, Signalman, Gunners Mate, Fire Controlman, Quartermaster, Mineman, and Torpedomans Mate.

Other ratings wore rates on the left sleeve.

Sally Ship "Sally ship" was not a ship but a method of loosening a vessel that ran aground from the mud holding her fast. In the days before sophisticated navigation equipment, ships ran aground much more often than today. A grounded ship could be freed with little or no hull damage if she could be rocked out of her muddy predicament. To free her, the order was given to "sally ship". The crew gathered in a line along one side and then ran from port to starboard and back and forth until the vessel began to roll. Often the rolling broke the mud's suction and she could be pulled free and gotten underway.