Crossing the Equator

Photograph

-

Destroyer Escort Historical Museum

2012.7.29

2012.7.29

Name/Title

Crossing the Equator

Entry/Object ID

2012.7.29

Tags

CANNON-class, Enlisted, Ceremony

Description

A SLATER sailor participates in a Crossing the Equator ceremony aboard the ship. He is lying down on a makeshift bed on the weather deck with paint or grease on his face. Another sailor gives him a drink. Sailors taking part in the Ancient Order of the Deep ceremony. This is a celebration of the ship crossing the Equator. Those that had never crossed are called pollywogs, whereas those that have crossed are called shellbacks. To become a shellback, the pollywog must complete a hazing ritual and answer for crimes committed against King Neptune! USS SLATER (DE-766) crossed the equator on November 4, 1945, while en route to Biak, Indonesia, from Yokohama, Japan.

Context

Equator crossing

Collection

USS Slater DE 766