Did You Know About These Fun Titles That Are Unique to The United States Navy?

The different services have nomenclature, terms, humorous nicknames and titles that are applied to the various experiences that are unique to each service. The Navy has always had a very descriptive, nautical, and “poetic” way of giving titles to the various experiences that a sailor might have while serving in the blue water Navy. The following are some of the unique terms that United States Navy personnel can claim:

Shellback

This term refers to all those sailors who have had the experience of crossing the equator while aboard a U.S. Navy ship.  For those who experience it for the first time, there is an onboard, light hearted “initiation” ceremony that takes place to record and remember the experience by.   

Golden Shellback

This term is used for those who have sailed across the International Date Line while aboard a U.S. Navy vessel. If one has already received the title of a Shellback and who then crosses the International Date Line ( in the Pacific), he or she can also claim the title of Golden Shellback. Even rarer, if one is both a Shellback and a Golden Shellback and then crosses the Prime Meridian (in the Atlantic), he can now also claim the title of Emerald Shellback.

Blue Nose

This title is gained by those who have sailed on a United States Navy ship above the Arctic Circle above 66 degrees 34′ North. The term “Blue Nose” seems to be quite appropriate here.  

But there are some even rarer titles that can be earned while serving in the United States Navy as well. They are of a different kind than those above, as they are related to some of the not-so-easy, or happy circumstances that can arise serving in, say, wartime. Among them are:

Sea Squatter

The title is earned by those who have spent more than 24 hours afloat in a life raft.  This is not the kind of craft that a sailor wants to find himself in, except when such a craft becomes a matter of necessity, right?!

Caterpillar

This one is even less appealing, but proudly worn by those who have had the experience and survived it. This title is worn by those naval aviators who, for one reason or another, had to bail out of their aircraft and “hit the silk”   A metaphor that fits well in the not uncommon military genre of “gallows humor.”

Grand Order of Muskies

Finally, the rarest term of all. This title can be claimed by very few indeed. Only those US Navy submariners who have actually submerged in all five of the Great Lakes can lay claim to this title. That was last accomplished by the crew of the USS Corsair in 1959.

There are many more terms that I have not included, of course, but these unique US Navy “titles” are entertaining, and metaphorically clever terms that United States Navy sailors can claim over their time in active duty on any of our Navy’s ships.