Today’s navy is much the same as yesterdays, and even back to the days of sail, in that hungry sailors have to eat. Today, sailors eat a hearty bowl of soup at morning stand easy. In the days of sail, they might have had to rely on chewing a fatty piece of salt-pork.
Scuttlebutt is a commonly used term with a naval origin. As far back as the 17th century, a scuttled butt was the term for a barrel that had been breached to provide a source of fresh water for the crew.
Originally published by The Lookout Newspaper, on 30 January 2023, this article is reproduced here in its unedited state. To be over a barrel…
Roger is a voice communications proword which means “received and understood. With the use of Roger being as commonplace as it is today, it is strange how most people do not know the derivation of the term.
The general call is used to get the ship’s company’s attention and is used preceding a broadcast order. Non-naval people often remark how the general call sounds like a wolf-whistle, known to be used when something or someone is pleasing to the eye.
The holiday season is a special time in an HMC ship or base. Seasonal decorations have been popular for decades and include traditions such as the raising of an evergreen up a ship’s yardarm or festooning the upper decks with pine boughs and coloured lights.
The term close up may refer to a flag that is hoisted to the full extent of a halyard, with the head of the flag touching the block, e.g., “Flag Romeo close up,” which indicates that a ship is ready to participate in a replenishment at sea (RAS).
There is an entire category of nautical vocabulary dedicated to keeping a ship in safe waters, and not aground or on the rocks. Resting upon or touching the sea bottom is referred to as a grounding, which is one of the worst outcomes for a ship, sometimes leaving a vessel high and dry until the tide comes in, or not able to continue at all.
Sailors sleep in a mess, sometimes referred to as a mess deck. A mess is a space filled with bunks, often called racks. The owner of a rack might refer to their happy resting place as their pit, i.e., “I am heading to my pit for the night.”