The summer before I went to college, I was not so worried about leaving home for the first time, I was concerned I did not have what it took to be a good Naval Officer. My doubts came when I received a letter about O-week. This was an orientation, I learned, about life as a […]
Tag: hawsepipe-blog
RRS Shackleton plaque
From the Collection: RRS Shackleton plaque Current ship wardroom plaques, otherwise known as ship’s plaques or ship’s emblems, or formally as ship’s badges came from an old tradition that reaches back to the age of sail. As a means of identification, sailing ships used carved figureheads as a distinguishing feature; however, with the move from […]
British Antarctic Survey
For my son’s completion of his first week of Second Grade, I gave him a small gift: a legal tender coin from the British Antarctic Territory (BAT). He asked me where this place was, and we searched for it in his world atlas and flag gazetteer. Since the international community does not recognize BAT, his […]
United States Lines & USNRF
Military uniforms tell a story. The bit and bobs that are scattered across them offer clues to their context and sometimes even political battles fought far from the crew compartment or barracks. American Merchant Marine uniforms in the inter-war period were work clothes. I was bothered by a statement by a General Dalton of the United […]