During our curies to the North Atlantic we had the unfortunate pleasure of crossing the Arctic Circle. Sailors have several different lines around the world which when crossed are cause for celebration, most notably is the equator. Crossing the Arctic Circle is one of those lines when crossed it is time to celebrate. One who has previously crossed is know as a Blue Nose. One who is crossing for the first time is know as Arctic scum, polly wog, or wog.
The night we crossed the line was rather stormy and on the cold side of things. We spent a good deal of time refueling the ship and those of us who were outside during the storm were not looking forward to the next days activities. After the ship had been fueled there was a nice late dinner served on the mess decks and plenty of hot coffee to go around. I went right to our breathing compartment and was looking forward to a nice hot shower. I was one of the last people to get a hot shower that night.
During our North Atlantic cruise I was also taking par tin an old Navy tradition, mess cranking. This is when newer enlisted personnel were required to work in the ships galley for a period of time. The worst part about doing this is the long hours both at sea and in port. But it also has advantages, such as being able to get the choice food before remainder of the crew.
On the day of the ceremony breakfast was served for the Arctic scum out of the regular galley. On this day everyone ate from the same menu, officers and enlisted. Breakfast was served cold and everything that could be colored blue was blue. The coffee pots had their heating units all shut off and the toasters were disconnected as well. Those who had crossed before were allowed to eat breakfast in the officers ward room. Their food was made to oder for them and of course hot. The hot water heaters were all disconnected at midnight, so not hot early morning showers.
We were instructed by the Blue Noses to make our way to the front of the ship in uniform of the day, inside out and backward. When we arrived it was sunny and fairly warm, 45F(7C), but windy. The ranking Blue Nose read a speech from Boris Rex, ruler of the North and ordered the youngest and oldest wog to step forward. They were told since the ship was now also a Blue Nose they were to paint her bull nose painted. Of course they did a rotten job and then this meant we all had to held accountable for their mistake.
We had to make a number of laps around the ship and try to avoid the rather of the Blue Noses before they would allow us to escape to the flight deck. Along the way we had to endure verbal taunts and physical trials. Then there was the repeated wash downs from the fire hoses. The system was turned down a few psi, however the sea water was cold. The last sea water temperature I was aware of was 35F (1C). So needless to say getting hit by a water that cold can really cool a person off in no time. After we had been punished enough we were allowed to make our way to the flight deck where we had to stand in the wind and listen to another speech from the leader of the Blue noses.
One last dunking into a bath of sea water filled with ice and then off to get our blue nose. This was done with a mixture of shortening and blue food color. So now we were all official Blue noses and could thus be called upon to defend the Arctic against incursions of Arctic scum in the future. The ship sported her blue nose well into our deployment in the Med which came 3 months after we crossed the line.
