Posted on 01/01/2025 3:21:16 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Sam J. Tangredi is a retired Navy captain and Leidos chair of future warfare studies at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Ships’ logs are sourced from the National Archives.
The official log of a U.S. Navy warship is written according to a strictly regulated formula. On a standardized form, the watch stander records the details: combat actions, course, speed, sea conditions, strain on the mooring lines. The officer of the deck signs the log at the end of the four-hour watch. Each entry is a legal document, historical record and solemn testimony. Once a year, however, it can also be poetry.
Ordinarily, the entries are rendered in stilted official prose, such as “Assumed the watch, moored as before” and “Damage Control Central reports all secure.” The observations for the first watch of the new day — 0000 to 0400 (12 a.m. to 4 a.m.) — are the most extensive, noting all the initial conditions. Later entries take the “moored as before” approach. Normally, it’s about as creative as the paperwork for a car loan (unless the enemy is shooting).
With one exception: It has become an American tradition to write the first entry of a new year as a poem, or at least in rhyme. No other navy does this. Such verses began appearing in ships’ logs in the late 1920s, reached a peak during World War II and have continued since. Not every skipper accepts the practice, but it is generally tolerated, and often celebrated. (I collaborated on such a poem when I was an officer of the deck early in my naval career.) In the 1960s, when the Navy was considerably larger, the Navy Times newspaper held New Year’s deck log poetry contests, receiving hundreds of entries...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Well, I hope the “chronometers are wound and compared” … just sayin
Happy New Year!
Ping.
Onboard the USS Dwight D Eisenhower while in port in Naples, Italy, I had the mid-watch on Dec 31, 1984. The Navy had just outlawed beards and my log noted that fact (as well as others) in a poetic form that I had prepared ahead of time. Later I was called on the carpet and was ordered to rewrite them. In the intervening 40 years I have misplaced the original. Otherwise I would be posting them this evening.
[snip] Normally, it’s about as creative as the paperwork for a car loan (unless the enemy is shooting). With one exception: It has become an American tradition to write the first entry of a new year as a poem, or at least in rhyme. No other navy does this. Such verses began appearing in ships’ logs in the late 1920s, reached a peak during World War II and have continued since. Not every skipper accepts the practice, but it is generally tolerated, and often celebrated. [/snip]
I would have loved to read the poetry, but I don’t subscribe to the Washington Post and have no desire to pay for something I won’t read but once in my life.
As a Navy widow and mom, I’m still interested in all things Navy, so this was disappointing.
‘Face
;o]
My daughter was serving in Naples at the same time you were there! She was Duty Driver for her Commander.
She loved it but never sent home much in the way of mementos.
But don’t get her started talking about it! :o])
LOL!
I don’t pay for it either. There are lots of ways to bypass paywalls. When I am on my laptop I will private email you how to do it. Some of them are built into your browser.
That would be great!
Thank you!
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