Crossing The Line - World Naval Ships Forums Archive (Page 2)

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Crossing The Line - World Naval Ships Forums Archive (Page 2)

Crossing The Line (Page 2)

Posts 51 to 100

I have great pleasure in being able to show a really fine example of a crossing the line certificate which was most kindly forwarded on to me by Chris Westwood to be specially shown in this thread. The certificate was issued to his Dad when he served on HMNZS Achilles on 10th December 1944. As the certificate was too large to scan Chris sent it on to me in four different parts and I would like to thank Clive [Dreadnought] for a truly amazing job of reassembling them back into one using his great abilities with Photoshop! Many thanks to both Chris and Clive. :):)
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[QUOTE=astraltrader;132956]I have great pleasure in being able to show a really fine example of a crossing the line certificate which was most kindly forwarded on to me by Chris Westwood to be specially shown in this thread. The certificate was issued to his Dad when he served on HMNZS Achilles on 10th December 1944. As the certificate was too large to scan Chris sent it on to me in four different parts and I would like to thank Clive [Dreadnought] for a truly amazing job of reassembling them back into one using his great abilities with Photoshop! Many thanks to both Chris and Clive. :):)[/QUOTE] terry and clive, my deepest thanks. Clive you are a genius.

I am GREEN with envy -my father crossed the Arctic Circle in 1939 and 41 and crossed the Equator in 1944 and 45-and nothing to show for the occasions-I have all his papers, but no line certificates; but as I knew my father- I am not surprised-vexed though. jainso31 Always on the Lookout!

Here's a few from my Days. One Bluenose, although I should have had loads of these in my FP days. Two equitorials, From DIANA and EAGLE.
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Thanks Ed for three excellent additions to the thread. :)

Funny (peculiar) thing about these certificates is that we didn't always get them! Reasonable that I didn't get one when AJAX crossed the line in 1966, as I already had one from when CEYLON did in 1958...........however:- KEPPEL was operating 300 miles inside Arctic Circle in 1961 and we didn't get a Bluenose, but when CHICHESTER crossed the Arctic Circle in 1967 we did get one.:confused:

I don't believe the certificates were official issue, but more of a fund raiser for the ships welfare fund. I believe I had to buy my certificate and fill in my details myself. Coming up to 45 years since I crossed the line, so brain is filled with grey matter, amongst other things. Although I got one on the way South, I don't recall any celebrations on the way North again;) Being on a big ship, Ark Royal, we were able to buy a range of printed matter, such as the one warning family members of the return of a sailor from foreign parts, and explaining to them such Naval terms as "Fast Black", etc. - still got that one somewhere. Jim

Just found this thread - its amazing how many different certificates there are for the same thing - but better than uniform dullness! Here is my dad's certificate from Feb 1943 on the Belfast. Even in the midst of one of the most dangerous periods they found time for this, presumably to keep moral up. by contrast, his equator certificate is rubbish. The LST 331 was a tank transporter, borrowed from the USA. He was on his way to Singapore after leaving HMS Belfast.
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I think it was 61 or 62 when in Ark Royal we crossed the equator. A competition was held for the design . Although my design was not accepted the wording was. I think I was awarded £2, unfortunately my certificate went missing, probably when I was divorced in 72. It would be nice if a certificate for that time and ship were to turn up.

i crossed the equator in november of 1966 aboard uss talbot county lst 1153 left rodman naval base panama bound for lima peru. the charges against me , as an electrican`s mate, was "reversing the polarity of an electric eel" for which i received i don`t remember how many"lashes" basically whacked on the butt with a cut up piece of firehose, known as a shelailigh. a very memorable event in a sailor`s life.

a good website to look over certificates is [url]www.tiffanypublishing.com[/url] they have crossing the line, as well as other certificates for sale

Recently found these, taken onboard HMS Bulwark in 1967 whilst covering the withdrawal from Aden. RichyB
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Don't remember that one Richy B but I did get my certificate in the summer of 66 when Bulwark crossed the line on her way to the far east. I picked up a bluenose many years later. Do modern ship's companies still do this one wonders? best wishes Jan

Hi Jan, I had a crossing the line certificate and 2 bluenose certificates all gained on Bulwark, I joined her in Singapore in 67, left her in Pompey in 69. Unfortunately house moves since then and they are with me no more. RichyB

I have just put five of my certificates into my photos on the computer but they failed when I tried to put them on to the thread. I get this all the time, photos go on fine but I have never been able to get any sort of certificate on. Anyone any tips. John.:(

Hello John, Make sure the files are saved as, ideally, jpegs and that the file sizes are no bigger than 1.9Mb. Certificates tend to be larger documents than photos and their file sizes can be very big. If you still have the problem, send me a PM and I will give you my email address, and I will try to attach the certificates on the thread for you. Jim

Here are the ones that I aquired. The last one is unusual, it was issued when I flew out to Brisbane to join the Hydra.
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Here is an old one from the war. It was issued to my father. I've gone off at a tangent but I've took the liberty of including his medals.
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Johnny, you are a lucky chap, most of us had to make do with one certificate, regardless of the number of equator crossings. I note we both served in Survey Ships, mine was Hecla.

[QUOTE=johnny07;1726940]Here is an old one from the war. It was issued to my father. I've gone off at a tangent but I've took the liberty of including his medals.[/QUOTE] Sorry to hog this page and stay on the same tangent but I wonder how many more men had a bar on their Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

Worn about the edges, and faded, but I've managed to keep these two in my wallet since I got them! I'm amazed the lamination has lasted so long. Back in the day, apparently they didn't do up fancy parchment and such for us lowly enlisted types, instead using "blanks" you could get from the Our Navy magazine. They even managed to get my initial wrong on one of them. My initials are actually DGF, of which someone once translated the first two as "Don't Give -- with the rest being obvious. :D
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I Crossed The Line in early March 1971 on the USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19), in it's first crossing, as it was bound for Rio de Janeiro in the first leg of it's maiden voyage to San Diego, via the Strait of Magellan. I have some links to my videos on my YouTube channel for two of the three crossings the ship made when I was aboard. There are two versions of each crossing (1971, 1972) involving less or more editing and they are the good ole crack of the whip style with the "dancing" "girls" that existed before the women came aboard. An associate of mine (BRP) has an FB page with many still pics from all three crossings (1971, 1972, 1973) and still pics he captured from my videos. 1971: [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/spooksxintel?feature=mhee#p/u/56/NlvwQEvM318[/url] [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/spooksxintel?feature=mhee#p/u/5/MX6cpIq0dDM[/url] 1972: [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/spooksxintel?feature=mhee#p/u/55/HmOnyDIojcY[/url] [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/spooksxintel?feature=mhee#p/u/6/ug6_nsEgVYE[/url] 1971-1972-1973 still pics: [url]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=160525600655946&l=6df640e163[/url] Hopefully, a copy of my certificate, summons and charges will appear on this post:
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A couple of "Crossing the Line" certificates found among Dad's papers which may interest members one of the MEDWAY 1938 and the other of the SUFFOLK 1946......Peter
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the following pictures are of the croosing the line ceremony aboard HMS Whirlwind , Whirlwind crossed the line at 0630 on the 18,01,45 but the ceremony was potponed until the 01,02, 45 Nigel
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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Just adding my few to the collecting.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I have included a civilian one to show that not only does the tradition live on but they remembered to mark coming back across. No Neptune of the north presented himself but every passenger was awarded the certificate.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]On the back up the hill we teenagers in H.M.S.Veryan Bay did not receive a second certificate, as all of us had already been presented to Neptune. Happily we welcomed this as on our initiation on the way down we all have a large amount of soap rammed into our held open mouths, followed by being tipped over backwards into the canvas bath to be three quarters drowned. The ships company had thought of casting each of us over the side for a good rinse, but as we did all the work thought better of it.[/SIZE][/FONT] Philip.
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[QUOTE=johnny07;1726946]Sorry to hog this page and stay on the same tangent but I wonder how many more men had a bar on their Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.[/QUOTE] Johnny, Have just been trolling and saw your Dad's medals. Not one but two clasps to his LS&GC - now if the qualifying timeframe was the same as when I got mine [15 years (1968)] that means 45 years of "undetected crime". Have you ever promulgated his Comic Cuts because they must make fascinating reading. During my time only a sixth fiver would have qualified for a clasp. Dave H Note to Mods - Sorry to be offthread but this is a good one. Undetected Crime - Good Conduct throughout. Comic Cuts - Service Documents. Sixth Fiver -Someone who has completed 22 years Service and goes on to serve another two five year engagements making their retirement age 50+

I have just come across this account of "crossing the line" in 1708. Interestingly, it was performed when entering the topics (in this case crossing cancer), not just when the equator was crossed: “[I]This day, according to custom, we ducked those who had never passed the Tropick before. The manner of doing it was by a rope through a block from the main yard, and let them fall at once into the water; having a stick cross through their legs, and well fastened to the rope, that they might not be surprised and let go their hold. This proved of great use to our fresh-water sailors, to recover the colour of their skins which were grown very black and nasty. Those that we ducked after this manner three times, were about 60, and others that would not undergo it, chose to pay half a crown fine; the mony to be levied and spent at a publick meeting of all the ships companys, when we return to England.[/I]” Questions: 1. When was the custom changed from crossing the tropic to crossing the equator? 2. Does the option of not participating still exist, and if so, what is the penalty?

I have crossed the equator on board a number of HM's vessels above and below the surface and NEVER ONCE endured a ceremony of any sort!!! are there any others on the forum in that category? and did my entitlement fade after the first crossing was not marked by any ceremony? Little h

I posted my five certificates in # 67 Harry but like you I never ever attended any sort of ceromony. That could have been because in three watches I was either on watch or asleep. I would always give that sort of thing a wide berth anyway.

My certificate in #36 was issued even though I never attended said ceremony, I was watching from a safe distance!!;) Jack.

If anyone has a crossing the Equator certificate from Ark Royal 1961 please post it on the thread, the wording on the certificate is mine, won a small prize in a competition. Having crossed the line previously I didn't get a copy.

That does'nt seem fair Keith, is it too late to be issued with one? That reminds me of the Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea. We all were invited to submit designs for the memorial statue. I got my idea from the commando memorial at Spean Bridge, I drew three oilmen stood togeather as at Spean Bridge on a plinth with the words:- We ****** Up They obviously never used the words but the statue was of three oilmen stood togeather but I never got any credit for it.

[QUOTE=Dave Hutson;10059032]Johnny, Have just been trolling and saw your Dad's medals. Not one but two clasps to his LS&GC - now if the qualifying timeframe was the same as when I got mine [15 years (1968)] that means 45 years of "undetected crime". Have you ever promulgated his Comic Cuts because they must make fascinating reading. During my time only a sixth fiver would have qualified for a clasp. Dave H Note to Mods - Sorry to be offthread but this is a good one. Undetected Crime - Good Conduct throughout. Comic Cuts - Service Documents. Sixth Fiver -Someone who has completed 22 years Service and goes on to serve another two five year engagements making their retirement age 50+[/QUOTE] I may continue this on the forms or certificates thread Dave but yes he did 47 years plus 2 years on Indefatigable the boys training hulk that he joined at 14 years old. That was from 1928 till 1977. His good friend was Godfrey Place VC of X craft fame ( Turpitz) who by coincidence was my CO on Albion in 1966.

Suspect this was taken on a Trooper going out to Singapore in 41, looks Like a good time was being had by all!! A mix of army, RN and civvies by the look of it, anyone have any ideas what ship or recognise any faces? Phill
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[QUOTE=johnny07;10059196]I may continue this on the forms or certificates thread Dave but yes he did 47 years plus 2 years on Indefatigable the boys training hulk that he joined at 14 years old. That was from 1928 till 1977. His good friend was Godfrey Place VC of X craft fame ( Turpitz) who by coincidence was my CO on Albion in 1966.[/QUOTE] Wow, He had already completed 25 when I joined in 1953 and left the same year as I 1977. Let me know if you publish on another thread because that is going to be interesting reading. Dave H

I was on the Chichester and "Crossed the Line" sometime in 1976. So, I won't be on that photograph. Sadly, I lost my certificate. Wish THE RN could issue me with a replacement! :c) [QUOTE=CYLLA;21421]On doing a spot of tiding up ,i came across this pic ,of when i was on the "CHICHESTER"...there are a good few faces there....can you spot any one .??? cylla[/QUOTE]

Not a certificate, but a "Crossing the Line" dit if I may... Many moons ago, when the dreaded culture of "Political Correctness" began to infiltrate the Canadian Navy, a certain opposition Member of Parliament received a complaint from a military constituent that he had been subjected to this barbaric ritual ... a ritual which he felt should be banned! When this matter was brought up in the House of Commons (yes, it really was!), the Prime Minister replied that he too had been through a "Crossing the Line" ceremony and had thoroughly enjoyed the whole affair! Nothing further was said!

[QUOTE]Many moons ago, when the dreaded culture of "Political Correctness" began to infiltrate the Canadian Navy, a certain opposition Member of Parliament received a complaint from a military constituent that he had been subjected to this barbaric ritual ... a ritual which he felt should be banned![/QUOTE] Oh, you have them too, Tim. Attached is a photo taken duting the Crossing the Line ceremony on HMS Victorious in 1960. My late Brother, Jim is the one in the mortar board and flippers. I'm positive there's a certificate of his somewhere, but I can't seem to find it so I've posted the photo instead. Peter
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[QUOTE=barracuda;10062920]Oh, you have them too, Tim. Attached is a photo taken duting the Crossing the Line ceremony on HMS Victorious in 1960. My late Brother, Jim is the one in the mortar board and flippers. I'm positive there's a certificate of his somewhere, but I can't seem to find it so I've posted the photo instead. Peter[/QUOTE] A great shot Peter - some very interesting costumes there! Thanks for posting it.

In 1982 ,I was a staff officer in the 4th Canadian Destroyer Squadron returning to Canada from New Zealand, There was a special crossing the line ceremony for those who joined in Sydney Australia and missed the ceremony on the way down under. Even thought I had my wallet-size certificate, I was compelled to under go two ceremonies, one in HMCS Yukon and the other in HMCS Saskatchewan. The first, becasue I was staff and the other because I had reently been posted from Sasktchewan to squadron staff. Much warmer that crossing the Arctic circle off Norway.

Here a two photos taken during the "Crossing the Line" ceremony on H.M.C.S. St. Laurent in 1938, my father was part of the crew. Unfortunately his certificates for this and the Arctic Circle have been lost. Also included is the certificate I received in 1968 as H.M.C.S. Bonaventure crossed the Circle on our way to Narvik. Cheers Dave
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Crossing the line certificate given to my late stepfather Tom Davis AB RNVR who served aboard HMS Active H14 - 1939-1945. The certificate is A3 size so had to stitch together two A4 scans. The submarine sketches added later by Tom. The framed certificate and an admiralty official photo of "Active" occupy pride of place in our hallway. Steve
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[QUOTE=harry.gibbon;10059077]I have crossed the equator on board a number of HM's vessels above and below the surface and NEVER ONCE endured a ceremony of any sort!!! are there any others on the forum in that category? and did my entitlement fade after the first crossing was not marked by any ceremony? Little h[/QUOTE] Leaving UK in September 1970 I flew to Capetown to join Eskimo, consequently I missed their Ceremony. Although we crossed the equator on three more occasions during that commission there was never another ceremony. Eskimo being the only "floating" ship I served on means I too have never partaken in the ceremony. Steve

[QUOTE=barracuda;10062920]Oh, you have them too, Tim. Attached is a photo taken duting the Crossing the Line ceremony on HMS Victorious in 1960. My late Brother, Jim is the one in the mortar board and flippers. I'm positive there's a certificate of his somewhere, but I can't seem to find it so I've posted the photo instead. Peter[/QUOTE] Peter I was on the Vic then, will look for my Crossing The Line Certificate

Unfortunately a miserable so and so of an ex-wife destroyed my Crossing the Line and Bluenose certificates amongst a lot of my other ex-navy memorabilia and photographs Geoff

[QUOTE=Geoff H.;10097990]Unfortunately a miserable so and so of an ex-wife destroyed my Crossing the Line and Bluenose certificates amongst a lot of my other ex-navy memorabilia and photographs Geoff[/QUOTE] SNAP! my ex did the same.

I went through the shave and dip ceremony on our way to Mombasa for beira Patrols but never got a Certificate, should I email Neptune for a belated cert? PC's hadn't been invented then so he may not have a record!!

ARK ROYAL crossing the line 3 May 1975 Regards gerry
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HMS Caprice crossing the line ceremony Nov 66 on transit from Aden to Mombasa.
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[QUOTE=CYLLA;17961]This is my certificate ,from the time i was on the "CHICHESTER"...i have four photos too of when it took place ,but this is not the correct thread to post um on i think. cylla p.s it appeared too large for my scanner,but got the inportant bit on.[/QUOTE] hello CYLLA: This is my first crossing the line certificate. It was on HMCS Saskatchewan in 1968. I’m sure the picture of Hong Kong will look familiar to you. I bought it from the chap who painted it and it has always had a prominent place on the wall in my den.
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