Where Did the Shellback Tradition Originate?
The roots of the Line Crossing Ceremony, also known as the “Order of Neptune,” are steeped in mystery, lacking a clear origin story. Nevertheless, this maritime custom boasts a diverse heritage stretching back over four centuries within Western maritime culture.
The mythos surrounding the Shellback can be traced to ancient times, with stories echoing through the histories of Viking explorers and the Spanish navy. Although the exact beginnings are obscured by time, historical fragments suggest that novice sailors, on their inaugural voyages, underwent rigorous trials to prove themselves to the crew.
The Shellback intitation ritual signifies the transition of a sailor from a “Pollywog,” someone who hasn’t crossed the equator, to a seasoned “Shellback,” also called a Son or Daughter of Neptune. It acted as a measure to gauge a sailor’s preparedness and adaptability to life at sea.
Shellback Tradition With The U.S. Navy
In the US Navy, this tradition has evolved into a two-day affair with semi-official recognition in modern times. Months before the event, meticulous planning is undertaken by seasoned Shellbacks to ensure every detail is perfect. The most experienced Shellbacks take on the roles of members of the Royal Court of King Neptune and his Queen Davy Jones, dressing in elaborate costumes.
The first day is dedicated to preparing the Pollywogs for their transformative journey. Some ships recount instances of a Pollywog Rebellion, during which Wogs are given the opportunity to tease a Shellback, all the while being forewarned of impending retaliation the following day. Upon crossing the equator, the initiation process for the Wogs begins a practice that has varied across ships and fleets throughout history.
Kissing the Royal Baby – Photo courtesy of AMS3 Jerry Punkiewics 1986
One contentious aspect of this ceremony is the tradition of the “Royal Baby.” The Command Master Chief, aiming for a mix of humor and initiation, selects the most chubby and hairy sailor aboard the ship to assume this role.
The “Royal Baby” was attired in a diaper and generously coated with lard across his belly. Following this, the Pollywogs were tasked with crawling on all fours to the Royal Baby and retrieving (ie: suck. Yes.. it’s f***ing warped!) a maraschino cherry from his navel.
During the crossing of the equator, or “crossing the line,” King Neptune makes a ceremonial appearance aboard the ship to assert his authority over the maritime realm and preside over charges levied against Pollywogs accused of merely masquerading as true Sailors and neglecting proper homage to the sea deity.
Is There More Than One Kind Of Shellback?
A distinction even rarer than that of a Shellback is that of a Golden Shellback, earned by crossing the Equator precisely at the 180th meridian, also known as the International Date Line. Even more elusive is the status of an Emerald Shellback (in the USA) or Royal Diamond Shellback (in the Commonwealth), achieved by crossing the Equator at the prime meridian.
Who Goes through The Initiation?
Okay, first thing is this is voluntary. You cant be made to go through the initiation. Those that don’t will put on a dress uniform and will be sent to the foc’sle. (ships forecastle) There they will sit until the ceremony is over doing coursework, or GMT. If you don’t do it, you don’t get any of the benefits. You don’t get to watch it either.
Now every person that checks into a sea-going outfit, the yoemen and personnelmen will look for your shellback letter or any documentation that shows you’ve gone through the initiation. If your is missing this and you have no proof. You are considered a pollywog. Officer or enlisted, there is no immunity for this.
That guy waving and looking happy. That’s Senior Chief Waller. He check into VA-95 and was just another pollywog like the rest of the herd. He earned his Shellback certificate and wallet card.
AMS3 Spike’s Service Jacket Shellback Certificate
The Shellback Initiation; What Happens?
The shellback initiation often starts weeks or months before the actual equatorial crossing. What we did, was grab a couple old 20mm cans and we made up our wogs tee-shirts for them to wear. We stuffed the shirts in the 20mm cans along with items like raw shrimp, milk, and other foodstuff that would spoil which we heisted from the galley. This was all sealed up and stored outside in a safe place to “stew” for several weeks. When opened, it stinks to high heaven and will be deemed fitting attire for the pollywogs.
It’s not uncommon for everyone in the immediate vicinity to puke and gag when opening the cans & smelling your wogs shirt.
The Subpeona
The next thing that will happen to you as a Pollywog, is to be summoned by subpoena to stand before King Neptune and his esteemed court, Davy Jones, Her Highness Amphitrite (the wog queen) , and assorted dignitaries, all portrayed by the ship’s highest-ranking seamen.
This was mine I was served with back in July 1986.
Wog Queen Selection
Once the wogs have been server their subpoenas, we get to start that evenings activities with the much anticipated wog beauty pageant where men dress as women, each ship department presents a contestant in swimsuit attire. On the Big “E”, the wog queen beauty contest was televised over the ships television. I have to admit, the absurdity of this is one of the funniest things you could ever watch.
The winner is picked to be the Wog Queen and gets to sit with King Neptunis Rex and Davy Jones and the rest of the Royal Court.
The fella here to our right. I won’t mention his name, but this AOAN was a good sport. He took it all in stride, he put on a great show during the beauty pageant and had us all laughing our butts off at his antics. He earned his Shell Back card.
Shellback Initiation Day Morning
Now comes the moment of truth for every pollywog. The wogs are woken up and first order is to get properly dressed. everything you put on goes on your inside out and backwards. Pant go on inside out with the zipper facing the rear, your skivvies goes on on top of your pants. Inside out and backwards. Ditto for your shirt and undershirt (yes the one we dig out of the can that stinks like S***!
At this point the rest of your woggie journey will be done on your hands and knees. until you become a Trusty Shellback.
If your a good wog, chances are you’ll have a relatively easy time, but us Shellbacks love to look for a wog with a big “S” on their back. That means your “special.” And by special I mean you’ve somehow gotten the attention of your betters and annoyed them immensly with your sarcasm, over-aboundant over-enthousiastic wit, uber dull sensabilities, or you were just a knuckle-head.
Now that you’re properly dressed, its time to take our wogs down to the mess decks and feed them. Everything was GREEN. Green spaghetti, green donuts, green eggs, green milk. If it was edible, it was green. And not only did you have to eat this green slop, it made for interesting woggie food fights. When you see wogs with green spaghetti in their hair, this is where that stuff began. Once your wogs is sufficiently fed, it’s time to take him up to the roof and run him through initiation.
Elevator ride to the flight deck – Photo courtesy of AMS3 Jerry Punkiewics 1986
The Journey to become a Shellback
Airframe wog AMSAN Sutherland – Photo courtesy of AMS3 Jerry Punkiewics 1986
By now, the Pollywogs have started to endure a series of hilarious trials, all for the amusement of the Shellbacks. Wearing their clothing inside out and backwards, crawling on nonskid-coated decks, receiving swats from Shillelagh’s made from fire hose sections, confinement in stocks and pillories, being pelted with soft fruit (okay.., it’s garbage saved up from the previous days). Now it’s time to move the wogs up to the roof and start herding them thru the line.
This is a most nasty, gross, vile, disgusting, humiliating, and fun thing they’re going to experience on the cruise. As a pollywogs, you’ll be crawling around in garbage and puke until you get to the end of the line. Along the way, you’ll meet King Neptune, kiss the Royal Baby, be fed nasty concoctions like toothpaste, tabasco, and crackers and of course endure a lot of verbal abuse from the Shellbacks, until you reach the end of the line. There you’ll jump in the dunk tank and swim to the other side.
Wog dunk tank – Photo courtesy of AMS3 Jerry Punkiewics 1986
Now this isn’t an ordinary dunk tank. It’s filled with seawater, a weeks worth of nasty galley garbage , it smells horrible and if you’re lucky, you get in there before anyone starts to puke in it. But ya gotta dunk your head under the water and swin or crawl to the other side. Hopefully along the way, you haven’t swallowed any of the water. When you get to the other side, the Shellbacks there will ask you “who are you?” or “what are you?” The correct answer is “I’m a SHELLBACK!” At this point, you are a Trusty Shellback, and it’s time to get cleaned up.
Your next stop along the way is to head over to the cleaning spot where you strip down naked and pitch your clothes over the side of the ship> They’ll spray you down with hoses to get all the crap off you. After that a quick sprint below decks to the shower for a serious scrub down.
I know I used a whole bottle of shampoo to clean my head. A week later I was still picking pieces of eggshell out of weird places on my body. While all this is going on, Shellbacks are down in the mess decks cleaning up the Pollywog slime and getting the mess decks ready for chow. As I recall the new shellbacks were welcomed with steak and lobster for dinner.
Post Shellback Initiation
Well.., once all the festivities are over. You get a nice initiation certificate in the mail which looks great hanging on your “I Love Me” wall. There is also a service jacket letter that goes in your service jacket and of course a nice wallet-sized Shellback card you can laminate and carry in your wallet. I still have mine from July 1988 as you can see below. It’s old, it’s tattered, but I would rather loose a limb than that card.
Shellback Certificate