Naval Customs

It is the custom for the youngest member of the ship's company to "ring out the Old Year and ring in the New" by striking 1...

Manning and Cheering ship as a collective mark of respect in honour of a person or of another ship is a very old custom. In the days of sail...

The way warships are classified tends to be controversial, and there is no set definition for the meaning of a term. Everyone have their own...

The word "port hole" originated during the reign of Henry VI of England (1485). King Henry insisted on mounting guns too l...

Dog Watch is the name given to the 1600-1800 and the 1800-2000 watches aboard a ship.  The 1600-2000 four-hour watch was original...

In the old Navy, an officer's commission was hand-written on heavy parchment. According to some sources, the newly commissioned or...

An anchor that is foul of the cable or chain is a symbol found in various Navy crests.  No one really knows why the anchor was used as a ...