Jump to content

USS Alcyone Line Crossing Photos


Garandomatic
 Share

Recommended Posts

I can't turn down cheap WWII pictures, and when I saw a random assortment from the USS Alcyone on ebay for only a few bucks, I knew I couldn't lose no matter what the content. Turns out, about half of the pictures are from their line crossing ceremony, which I will post here. I may post the others as I scan them, just in case somebody out there googles the ship and would like to see what their ancestors saw.

post-9670-0-16008400-1413039186.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I figure the fella on the right is obviously the "royal chaplain," but I'm not familiar with the three fellas seated, in terms of the traditions of the line crossing ceremony. Check out the beards on two of them, though! I may link this to the facial hair in WWII thread I have seen.

post-9670-0-78354200-1413039333.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I bet these were some wild times. Just noticed (original picture is only about 2"x3") the fella sitting in the washtub in the center. I like seeing the variety and insanity of costumes.

post-9670-0-57003900-1413039601.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously this shot shows the royal baby (ain't he cute??), the royal nurse (egads!), and would the fellow with the trident be King Neptune, or is that perhaps one of his guards? Either way, this pollywog is about to kiss the baby's royal baby, which appears to be quite clean in this picture compared to other ceremonies I have read about.

post-9670-0-84592700-1413040008.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anyone can identify the roles in the ceremony that I have not commented on, please feel free. Never having ridden a ship on a roaring main larger than my grandpa's 1966 Mirrocraft fishing boat on a local lake, most of what I know about these ceremonies comes from "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" and a few other books.

 

I see the royal dentist in this shot, but can't make out the fellow with the bulls-eye on his shirt. I also wonder what everybody is looking at...!

post-9670-0-94251700-1413040263.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These are great!! I can only imagine the shenanigans these sailors got into.

No doubt. Some of these ceremonies got pretty crazy, and remained so into the 70s according to a friend of my dad that was in the navy, in particular what the royal baby's belly was smeared with! I guess they are a good bit more tame now. I don't mind the idea of cleaning the royal baby's belly up in the modern navy, and never having served, my opinion means little, but there's something pretty darned cool about these old photos.

 

I saw another set of WWII Shellback Ceremony pictures on ebay that some hippy-type had listed a while back that talked about how it was terrorizing, tormenting, bullying, etc. While there were a couple of minor vendettas carried out on the Sammy B., for example, the overwhelming majority of pollywogs enjoyed the experience. I wanted the pictures, but I decided I'd rather not give a penny to somebody that listed it like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great photos-- love those vintage and antique crossing the line ceremonies. There should be a CROSSING THE LINE thread under ships and/or photos subforums.from different ships and eras. It would come up prominently under a Google search for the individual ships from both haming the photos with the ship's name ("USS AJAX CROSSING THE LINE 1", etc.) and the text. Glad you bought these and took the time to scan and share them.-- thanks. I would have bought those others from the hippy, at least you'd know they have a good home and don't end up sitting in a closet, never to be seen again, until they next change hands. I don't get the fun of collecting if nobody sees the stuff but you. Thankfully, we have The Forum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...