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Crossing a Line with the U.S. Navy
By: Russ Horton Reference Archivist
The U.S. Navy has a long, rich history of commemorating significant events in sailors’ lives. An example that is well documented in the archives are line crossing ceremonies. Dating back to the very beginning of the U.S. Navy, which inherited the custom from the British Navy, line crossing ceremonies recognize sailors who cross a significant line of longitude or latitude on the globe for the first time. The rituals themselves were historically shrouded in mystery, often complex, sometimes rough, brutal, and dangerous to the initiates. They have evolved over time but remain a source of controversy.
The most common line crossing ceremony involves the equator. Sailors who have not crossed the line of 0° latitude are known as pollywogs. Upon crossing the equator for the first time, they become known as shellbacks or sons of Neptune. They receive an ornate certificate welcoming them into the court of King Neptune, often providing the date and longitude of their crossing, the ship they sailed on and their destination, and commending the new shellback to all mermaids, sea serpents, whales, and other ocean creatures both real and mythological.
Gordon Foucault, a Milwaukee native, served as a fire controlman operator third class aboard the USS Prince William, an escort cruiser that served in the Pacific theater during World War II. Foucault crossed the equator, and earned this decorative certificate, at left, in October 1943 while aboard the SS Elehu Thomson, a transport ship taking sailors out to the Pacific and their ships.
Another significant geographical line is the international date line at 180° longitude where a Golden Dragon rules supreme. Sailors who cross the international date line for the first time are initiated into its court and receive a certificate with similar language to the shellback certificate.
Seabee Raymond Wendling, of Milwaukee served in the Pacific with the 9th Special Construction Battalion and received this membership card as seen below proving his status as a dragonback.
A less common line crossing certificate in the archives belonged to Ronald Kannenberg, a career sailor from Wauwatosa. In October 1957, he crossed the line of 66°33' N, also known as the Arctic Circle. Kannenberg was initiated into the court of Boreas Rex and the Order of the Top of the World. His certificate, at left, references polar bears, walruses, musk oxen, and blue nose mermaids along with other sea creatures.
