Posted on Jun 4, 2014
How many Shellbacks, Golden Dragons, Golden Shellbacks, Blue Noses and Plank Owners do we have here?
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It's a Navy/Marine Corps thing. You cross the Equator on a ship you are a Shellback, You cross the Date Line on a ship you are a Golden Dragon. If you cross the Equator at the Date Line you are a Golden Shellback. If you cross the Arctic Circle you are a Blue Nose. If you are the first crew of a ship or unit you are a Plank Owner.
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Tradition
Tradition
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 87
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Shellback and (Imperial Order) Golden Dragon....though, I had never heard of golden dragon until this thread, and neither had my husband (who served 10 years). Interestingly enough, we found a list of a bunch of other crossing the line ceremonies on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony
The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
The Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed the International Date Line.
The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed at the same time Lat. 00-000°, Long. 180.00°
The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
The Order of the Rock for sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.
The Order of the Sand Squid for Sailors who have been attached to army units or stationed in the Middle East.
The Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (where the Equator crosses the prime meridian)
The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the Earth.
The Order of the Lakes for sailors who have sailed on all five Great Lakes.
The Order of the Spanish Main for sailors who have sailed in the Caribbean.
The Order of the Sparrow for sailors who have sailed on all seven seas. (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic Oceans)
After reading this, though, I don't understand the difference between the The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon and The Golden Shellback. The explanations sound like they are describing the same thing to me.... anyone have any insight on this? Where am I confused?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony
The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
The Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed the International Date Line.
The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed at the same time Lat. 00-000°, Long. 180.00°
The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
The Order of the Rock for sailors who have transited the Strait of Gibraltar.
The Safari to Suez for sailors who have passed through the Suez Canal.
The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line.
The Order of the Sand Squid for Sailors who have been attached to army units or stationed in the Middle East.
The Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback for sailors who cross at 0 degrees off the coast of West Africa (where the Equator crosses the prime meridian)
The Realm of the Czars for sailors who crossed into the Black Sea.
The Order of Magellan for sailors who circumnavigated the Earth.
The Order of the Lakes for sailors who have sailed on all five Great Lakes.
The Order of the Spanish Main for sailors who have sailed in the Caribbean.
The Order of the Sparrow for sailors who have sailed on all seven seas. (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic Oceans)
After reading this, though, I don't understand the difference between the The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon and The Golden Shellback. The explanations sound like they are describing the same thing to me.... anyone have any insight on this? Where am I confused?
Line-crossing ceremony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite in the British Merchant Navy, Dutch merchant navy, Royal Navy, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, Russian Navy, and other navies that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator.[1] The tradition may have originated with ceremonies when passing headlands, and become a "folly" sanctioned as a boost to morale,[2] or have been created as a test for seasoned sailors to...
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PO2 Christopher Sipos
I got the Shellback and Golden Dragon statuses while serving on the USS Bremerton!
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SCPO Frank Waldron
I became a Shellback on the USS Saratoga, April, 1972 on the way around Africa on way to Vietnam.
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SN Edward Van Dyke
I became a Shellback I was inducted into Sacred Order of the Golden Dragon and a Blue Nose aboard the USS Edisto in 1962/63
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Cpl Vic Eizenga
I crossed the date line on my way to Okinawa in 1965 they did stop the ship and we had a swim call off the landing craft we never had a ceremony or cirtificates
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PO1 Jesse Hanson
Crossed the Equator 3 times, first time 17 degrees away from 0.0/0.0 (almost Emerald), missed Blue Nose by 100miles, missed Red Nose by 300miles, did the Safari to Suez, sailed enough miles to earn 4 sparrows, and crossed the International date line 8 times.
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PO2 Dalejr183 .
I was a AK2 Westpac 2000 VF-31 we crossed the equator were it hits the international dateline and had the Golden Shellback ceremony aboard CVN-72 I proudly participated
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Outstanding Senior. Some very unique ceremonies and very symbolic in a weird way.
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I became a Golden Shellback on the USS Bonhomme Richard on the way to Afghanistan, and a regular Shellback on the USS Boxer on the way to Iraq.
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Lots of great history in the Navy. The Army is sucking the fun out of most of our traditions.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
I'm sure the Army isn't the only one. I bet you ask any of these other Petty Officers what happened to them when they became Shellbacks and you would hear horror stories that today would most definitely Constitute Serious Hazing and be a BoZo No No. LOL. I can tell you that that Hot Sauce they have in the Galley going down the crack of your ass will burn your Hemroids like nothing you will ever feel in your life. Good thing you only have to go through it once.
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Between 10/64 and 4/66 aboard the USCGC Eastwind (WAGB - 279):
The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
The Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed the International Date Line.
The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed at the same time Lat. 00-000°, Long. 180.00° (see below)
The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line. (I crossed the Equator four times and the Dateline four times. I think we did it at the same time once, but a lot of years have passed. I would like to document this.)
The Order of the Spanish Main for sailors who have sailed in the Caribbean.
The Order of the Sparrow for sailors who have sailed on all seven seas. (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Arctic, Antarctic Oceans) I have heard what is called "Order of the Sparrow" here referred to as a "Square Knot Sailor" back in the day. I missed only the Indian Ocean.
Puddle Pirate, LOL - I think not.
The Order of the Blue Nose for sailors who have crossed the Arctic Circle.
The Order of the Red Nose for sailors who have crossed the Antarctic Circle.
The Imperial Order of the Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed the International Date Line.
The Sacred Order Of The Golden Dragon for sailors and marines who have crossed at the same time Lat. 00-000°, Long. 180.00° (see below)
The Order of the Ditch for sailors who have passed through the Panama Canal.
The Golden Shellback for sailors who have crossed the point where the Equator crosses the International Date Line. (I crossed the Equator four times and the Dateline four times. I think we did it at the same time once, but a lot of years have passed. I would like to document this.)
The Order of the Spanish Main for sailors who have sailed in the Caribbean.
The Order of the Sparrow for sailors who have sailed on all seven seas. (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Arctic, Antarctic Oceans) I have heard what is called "Order of the Sparrow" here referred to as a "Square Knot Sailor" back in the day. I missed only the Indian Ocean.
Puddle Pirate, LOL - I think not.
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PO2 David Wagner
We set sail out of Boston October 1, 1964 headed to Antarctica by way of the Panama Canal. Mission completed in 1965 we crossed the Antarctic Circle headed North and the Arctic Circle headed North on a ship that cruised at 12.5 knots. The crossing in that short a time set a record then. We stopped briefly in Boston for fuel, supplies, and repairs along the way. After some time in and around Greenland in June to August of '65 we returned to Boston to make another cruise to Antarctica and returned in April 1966. This is the quick version.
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Just had a little surprise. Father passed 6 months ago and I have been cleaning out his stuff. Found a Shellback Certificate. My Father the Marine who hated ships was a Shellback.
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I'm a Royal Diamond Shellback. At least that's what we came up with on the Carl Vinson when we crossed in '83 @ 0,0. Also, got the Golden Dragon, and Magellan Cruise on that Around the World Cruise. The Vinson also did some time up in the Arctic Ocean, but they didn't let us cross the circle, so I took leave with my wife and drove up to it.
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