Crossing The Equator Ceremony

Crossing the Line ceremonies matched the initiation ceremonies of many medieval guilds, and by the 16th century, a pattern of customs had emerged in European shipping to provide a ‘baptism’ for all sailors aboard who have not previously crossed the equator. Neptune, usually the oldest sailor who had crossed the equator the most…and his retinue would come over the bows of the ship and take over the deck. The retinue might consist of, among others, ‘Davy Jones’ or the Devil, two ‘Bears’, men dressed in skins who would pull Neptune’s chariot, a ‘Barber’ and a ‘Doctor’. Often Neptune was accompanied by Amphritrite, the wife of Triton or Neptune, usually a young sailor dressed up with a wig and outlandish female clothing.

The ceremony of crossing the line is an initiation rite in the Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, Indian Navy and other navies which commemorate a sailor's first crossing of the equator. Originally the tradition was created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long rough times at sea. Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nicknamed Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed Pollywogs.

"King Neptune and his court" (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and often various dignitaries, who are all represented by the highest ranking seamen) officiate at the ceremony, during which the Pollywogs undergo a number of increasingly disgusting ordeals (wearing clothing inside out and backwards; crawling on hands and knees on non-skid coated decks; being swatted with short lengths of firehose; being locked in stocks and pillories and pelted with mushy fruit; crawling through chutes and large tubs of rotting garbage; kissing the Royal Baby's belly coated with axle grease, hair chopping, etc), largely for the entertainment of the Shellbacks.

Once the ceremony is complete, a Pollywog receives a certificate declaring his new status. Another common status is the Golden shellback, a person who has crossed the equator at the 180th meridian (International Date Line).

A watered-down version of the ceremony, typically featuring King Neptune, is also sometimes carried out for passengers' entertainment on civilian ocean liners and cruise ships.

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.

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 many traditional Navies and Coast Guards.

Line crossing ceremonies are also carried out on some merchant navy 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.

Why a Ship is called "She" ?

It has always been customary to personify certain inanimate objects and attribute to them characteristics peculiar to living creatures. Thus, things without life are often spoken of as having a sex. Some objects are regarded as masculine. The sun, winter, and death are often personified in this way. Others are regarded as feminine, especially those things that are dear to us. The earth as mother earth is regarded as common maternal parent of all life. In languages that use gender for common nouns, boats, and other vehicles almost invariably use as feminine form. Likewise early seafarers spoke of their ships in the feminine gender for close dependence hey had on their ships for life and substance.
In the past there were no female worked in the commercial and war ships. All sailors were male. So they considered ship as their lady.

Until today ship is called "She", because:

• There is always a great deal of bustle around her
• There is usually a gang of men about
• She has a waist and stays
• It takes a lot of paint to keep her good looking
• She shows her topsides and hides her bottom
• She can be all decked out
• It takes an experienced man to handle her correctly
• And without a man at the helm, she is absolutely un- controllable.
• It takes a lot of Paint to keep her Good - Looking.
• And the main reason....It's not the initial expense that breaks you, It's the upkeep.
• When coming into port, always heads for the buoys.

Admiral Nimitz once said, "Because she costs a lot in paint and powder to be eye pleasing and ready to go out."
"Like a woman, she flaunts her topsides, hides her bottom, and there is always a bustle of men around her."

Memorising The Planets Of The Solar System

When I was a student, I had a tough time memorising Planets I order. I would like to share an effective method of memorising nine planets from the book Master Your Memory by Tony Buzan


First write down the names of all Planets of our Solar System on a piece of paper.

Now check with the order I have written and see if you have got it right. This is in order from the Sun:

1. Mercury 2. Venus 3. Earth 4. Mars 5. Jupiter 6. Saturn 7. Uranus 8. Neptune 9. Pluto

This is how you remember. You create a story.

Imagine that you are standing in front of Sun. See it clearly, feel its heat and admire its orange glow. And there is this planet thermometer, filled with that liquid metal that measures temperature: MERCURY.

The Sun heats up and eventually it bursts the thermometer. All you see is that tiny balls of that liquid metal Mercury on the floor.

Next you see is this most beautiful little goddess standing right next to you. What shall we call her? Yes, VENUS.

Then you see Venus playing with this scattered Mercury. Finally manage to pick up one of the Mercury Globules. She throws it in a giant arc way up in the sky. And this lands in your garden with a big thump. Your garden is on planet EARTH.

Because of the big thump, it effected your next-door neighbour who is a little red faced and about to fume up. Who is this God of War? MARS

Mars is really furious that he is just about to attack you when, striding you on the scene comes a giant. He calms Mars down. He has an initial J on his forehead that stands for JUPITER.

As you look up to Jupiter, he is wearing this T-shirt with the word ‘SUN’ emblazoned in golden letters. Each of this letters stands for the first letter of each of the three big Planets of the Solar System: SATURN, URANUS and NEPTUNE.

Sitting on Jupiter’s head is this barking dog called PLUTO, laughing his little heart out.

Now re-run this fantasy in your mind and then see how easy it is to remember!

This definitely works. To learn more about Tony Buzan and his Programs Click here

How Does Bulbous Bow Work?

Hydrodynamic level, the destructive interference of the primary and secondary wave trains causes an overall reduction in drag which is beneficial to the vessels resistance characteristics would be true. Or on a more physical level, that the water coursing over the top of the bulb is exerting a downward pressure that is keeping the stern from squatting, thereby allowing flatter trim, causing the vessel to run with less resistance. It is a fact that bulbs do work and in some cases reduce resistance as much as 25%.

Their proportions are derived from the features and dimensions of the vessel itself. The diameter (volume) is a direct result of the hull midship area. The length is determined by the stem profile, as the farther forward the bulb extends the more leverage it has but is generally kept shorter than the bow overhang. The section shape may be a modified ellipse to reduce pounding in head seas. The vertical placement is calculated so the bulb is just below the surface where it will create a wave in front of the ship interfering with the natural wave train of the vessel, creating a wave hollow where a crest should be. In this way the vessel will run flatter and the overall wave height will be reduced.

The vessel will pitch less which will cause fewer disturbances in the water and the passage of the vessel through the water will be achieved with less fuss and muss. Any time a vessel can be moved through the water with less waves and overall disturbance to the surface less power has been transmitted to the water to create those waves. To be able to move a vessel through the water with no perceptible notice of its passage is the ultimate goal of all Naval Architects and the ultimate in power savings.

Anil

What is a bulbous bow?

Bulbous bow available in many shapes and sizes, generally the bulb looks like a section of large diameter pipe with a domed end sticking out of the bow of the boat, underwater. Side bulbs, bilge bulbs, and even stern bulbs have been tried but the most consistent results have been achieved with bow bulbs. Today, to see a large ship without a bulbous bow is a rare sight indeed. Their results have been proven over countless thousands of deep ocean miles in all kinds of weather by all kinds of vessels.

So what's in it for you?

The benefit of a modern day bulbous bow will reduce your fuel consumption 12% to 15% giving you the equivalent greater range, or a slightly higher speed for the same power applied, whichever you choose to use. The greatest amount of benefit will be at the high end of the semi-displacement speed range, reducing as your speed decreases. At higher speeds wave making resistance accounts for the greater portion of the drag, and the slower you go proportionally more of the resistance is taken up by wetted surface drag. At low speed (around 6 knots and lower) the bulb will even cause an increase in drag because of it's greater wetted surface area. Luckily at that low speed the added power consumption is negligible and generally little time is spent in this speed range.

In addition, you will find increased sea keeping ability due to dampening of the pitching motion. When charging into head seas there is the chance of slamming the bulb on the troughs, but this is limited to a very narrow range of wave train and heading. A slight change in direction and/or speed will cure this ill-effect.

How does it works?

Please read my next post

What are the differences between a cruiser, destroyer, frigate, corvette and gunboat

The way warships are classified tends to be controversial, and there is no set definition for the meaning of a term. Everyone have their own views with their ships. For example Russian destroyers on which I served for many years are known as SNF (Soviet Naval Frigate) in USSR. Since modernisation of navies size of the ship doesn’t matter in classifying the ships. However size was the main factor in the early days in classification. Secondly weapon carried and purpose of ship.

The World’s Navies classifies the ships as follows:
Cruisers: +10,000 tons
Light Cruisers: 5000 to 10,000 tons
Destroyers: 3000 to 4000 tons
Frigates: 1100 to 3000 tons
Corvettes: 500 to 1100 tons
FAC: +25 Knots
Large PC: 100 to 500 tons
Coastal PC: -500 tons

There are, however, some nearly "standard" classifications that can be applied to most major warships. The designations listed here attempt to be "universal" to the greatest degree possible. Keep in mind that many nations chose to "do things their own way" at one time or another. A typical destroyer built during WWII and still in service and would still be classified as a destroyer, but it would be more similar to a modern frigate, corvette or offshore patrol vessel depending on its level of modernization.
In the British Navy the pendent number is written with an alphabet in front which distinguish what type ship it is.

A - Auxiliary
B - Battleship
C - Cruiser
D - Destroyer
F - Frigate
M - Minesweeper
N - Minelayer
R - Aircraft Carrier
S - Submarine
H - Hydrographic Vessel
L - Amphibious Warfare
P - Fast Patrol Boat

Cruisers: Cruisers are an extremely large and varied group.

Guided Missile Cruiser: Modern guided missile cruisers generally have only one of the traditional cruiser roles--they are either offensive or defensive, but not both. Typically offensive ships are equipped with heavy anti-ship missile batteries; defensive ships have anti-aircraft missiles to defend task forces. Neither type is truly capable of independent offensive operations as traditional cruisers were. A few guided missile cruisers have combined the offensive and defensive batteries in one large hull.

Destroyers: The destroyers have seen numerous changes in role over the years, as can be seen from the descriptions below

Definitions based on size comparison (i.e. a destroyer is larger than a frigate but smaller than a cruiser) and displacement have become meaningless in this category and the same will likely happen to the escort classes (corvettes and frigates) in the next two decades.

Destroyer: (DD/DDG(Destroyer /Guided Missile Destroyer) Small, fast, heavily armed escorts intended to protect the battle fleet, Carriers from enemy surface, air or undersea threats, depending on the era. Destroyers originated as "torpedo-boat destroyers", intended to sink enemy torpedo boats. Anti-submarine warfare was added when submarine became a threat. As aircraft became more important the destroyers added an anti-aircraft role. Destroyers are primarily defensive in nature and generally operate in groups rather than independently. In a modern context, DDs are the major anti-submarine ships and DDGs are anti-aircraft ships, but they retain multi-mission capabilities.

In addition to these defensive capabilities, it can support strike operations with long-range gunfire and land-attack missiles. It is this strike ability, mostly with Tomahawk missiles, that distinguish destroyers from frigates.

Frigates: Frigates are larger than corvettes. They are about the same size or just smaller than. Frigates today are multi-purpose platforms capable of long-range, long-endurance independent low and medium intensity missions. They are with advanced weapons, sensors and computer processing ability to defeat multiple air, surface and subsurface threats simultaneously and surviving in a high intensity environment. Stealth frigates are getting popular in the many navies.

Corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft, although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role.Corvette Small, generally slow escort-type vessel, generally intended for ASW. They are also sufficiently habitable and have the endurance for long-range operations. Best suited for coastal work but sometimes employed as a seagoing vessel. Often seem to be heavily armed for their size, but generally are lacking in things like sensors, electronics, reloads, range and accommodations.
Corvettes have a displacement between 540 and 2,750 long tons (and measure 180–330 feet (55–100 meters) in length. They are usually armed with medium- and small-caliber guns, surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and underwater warfare weapons

FAC: Fast attack craft are smaller than corvettes and distinguishable from similar sized patrol craft by their higher speed (at least 25 knots). They are distinguishable also from inshore vessels by size, being around 50m in length, whereas the smaller craft are 30m or less. Due to their small size, FAC specialise in one discipline and cannot be considered multi-purpose platforms. Most are optimised for surface warfare using missiles and guns, and increasingly rarely, torpedoes.

Battleships: Battleships were the primary warships in the era of ship-to-ship combat with guns. They were equipped with the largest and greatest number of guns possible, and were heavily armored to protect them from similar enemy ships. Battleships were intended to engage in ship-on-ship or fleet-on-fleet combat with forces of enemy battleships. Battleship armor was generally heavy enough to protect the ship against it's own main armament

Offshore Patrol Vessel: (OPV) Modern classification for vessels similar in purpose to the 3rd class cruisers. Intended for duty in areas requiring presence but not major fighting power. Vessels tend to be optimized for good seakeeping, long range, good accommodations, easy maintenance and reliability. Generally slow and seemingly underarmed for their size

The World’s Navies classifies the ships as follows:
Cruisers: +10,000 tons
Light Cruisers: 5000 to 10,000 tons
Destroyers: 3000 to 4000 tons
Frigates: 1100 to 3000 tons
Corvettes: 500 to 1100 tons
FAC: +25 Knots
Large PC: 100 to 500 tons
Coastal PC: -500 tons

Welcome

Warm Welcome

I am father of two daughters and presently living with my wonderful family in Singapore. I am working as trainer in the Republic of Singapore Navy for seven years. I would like to share my stories and experience through this site. Enjoy reading.

Anil