Posted on 03/04/2026 6:17:15 PM PST by llevrok
For those who have tons more knowledge than me of the Navy and militaria -
Watching the videos of our Navy ships launching missiles, I note each ship is flying a larger than normal American flag up on their top most mast.
Some one told me once that when a ship is at war, the flag is flown as high as possible as a warning signal to other ships in the area "This ship is at war, stand clear!"
Is that what I am seeing?
Thanks
U.S. Navy battle ensigns are large, authorized national flags flown from a warship’s masthead during combat, special evolutions, or entering/exiting port to signify readiness and heritage.
I love how steeped in tradition the US Navy is. And they make sure tradition is respected and adhered to.
I’m guessing it’s also for easier I.D. of friendlies in case of comm failure.
A lot of our naval traditions have been stripped away. The Chief Petty Officer Initiations, Shellback, and Blue Nose ceremonies have been damned near stripped of all tradition. It all started with Tailhook. Gunner might agree with that, or not.
Yes. The Tailhook purges.
Pat Schroeder. Cut the nuts off Alpha males.
Do you mean Paula Coughlin? I’m from Colorado and I don’t recall Pat Schroeder being involved. Might well have been, I just don’t recall.
How sad... I still have my father’s card signed by Neptunus Rex, aka King Neptune. He crossed the line several times, thus attaining the informal title “Crusty Old Shellback. Being a WWII Pacific Fleet Submariner, he lived more during his time in the navy than many people live in their whole lives. Going through multiple depth charge attacks by Japanese destroyers really made him appreciate life for the rest of his days. I sure miss him...
Just as the DoD has been changed back to the Department of War, the old traditions should be resurrected. Traditions build strong teams.
Tradition? Oh boy. That’s a bad word in today’s Navy. Used to be one of the Core Values. Integrity, Professionalism, and Tradition. Those were the values I came into the Navy with. They were in place from at least the 50s, but they were changed in ‘92 to Honor, Courage and Commitment. Gee... What happened around ‘92 to necessitate a change? Tailhook 1991. The brass and politicians figured “Tradition” is what got folks into trouble, so the traditions started going away. “Tacking” on pins and Crows went away, the Chiefs Initiation is is now Chief Petty Officer Selectee Training and is unrecognizable from what I was privileged to go through. Same with several traditional ceremonies in the Fleet, Seabees, and SPECWAR. Heck, everyone can wear Khakis now, no longer reserved for CPOs and above. Man, that was my incentive to make Chief!! I wanted those khakis. Now, meh... Everyone has them. I’m glad I went in when I went in, but I’m happier I got out when I got out.
“A lot of our naval traditions have been stripped away. The Chief Petty Officer Initiations, Shellback, and Blue Nose ceremonies have been damned near stripped of all tradition. It all started with Tailhook. Gunner might agree with that, or not.”
I’m a Shellback. During the (coincidentally) Iranian hostage crisis we sailed regularly between Diego Garcia and just outside the Persian Gulf unrepping with every ship out there. The first time we crossed there were very few Shellbacks so it was relatively easy. The ratio was like 10:1. The next time? The ratio was like 1:10. People got the ever loving crap beat out them (figuratively). Good times.
I’m an Emerald Shellback. Crossed at dead zeros!! I gave mouth to mouth to a crew of flying fish who I named and gave rank and boat positions too. I ate stuff no human should ever eat (fermented shrimp paste), walked around with a two day old oyster taped to my upper lip, sucked a maraschino cheery out of a fat man’s belly button (who was lubed up with crisco and got one hell of a sunburn) and we put on one hell of a beauty contest. I did not win, but who would want to? I had a friggin blast and will never forget it!!!
Definitely Schroeder.
An F-14 Wing Commander I knew was fired because his aviators, at a private Officer’s Club party, displayed a banner that read, “Hickory Dickory Dock, Schroeder Sucks Cock.”
I was also active duty at the time and recall the Congressional hearings.
I understand how you feel about the khakis... For me it was the Black beret in the Army. We had to earn it. After I separated, they decided that all branches could be issued the black beret. The black beret had been part of the Ranger uniform since they were reorganized decades before. So the Rangers went to the tan beret... Yes, it’s still different from the others - but I’ll never be convinced that is wasn’t an attempt to demoralize the 75th Regiment (otherwise they could have issued another color to the rest and left the black beret to the Rangers...) Don’t even get me started on the lessening of standards for the female Ranger candidates during the o’bambam administration... and even then, those female candidates couldn’t pass until they let them re-cycle 3-4 times and then turned a blind eye to their poor performance...
Same thing happened with our SWCCs and Rescue Swimmers. We had a female swimmer who thought she was so bad ass... Got in the water to hook up a practice MK 46 recoverable torpedo (REXTORP) for recovery and got right back out when a great big sunfish came up to give her a hand. She refused to get back in the water. Did she lose her qual? Nope.
Yep... I have a good friend that was top man in his USN Rescue Diver class. The kind of stuff we’re talking about here makes me now wonder if they’re even allowed to have a “Top Man” at all anymore.
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