Jim 'Lucky' Gordon Ours Not to Reason WhyAs a matter of interest, the Navy formally changed from winter dress to summer dress regulations 1 May. (The date really varied from 15 April to 15 May depending on the Commander of the day.) And back into winter dress regulations end on October. It did not matter if winter persisted into early June. All items of winter rig, great coat, gloves, over shows, and black jerseys were not to be worn during "summer dress period" |  |
A Language of their Own
On any vessel at sea two black balls hanging vertically from a yard indicate that the vessel is not under command, i.e. incapable of maneuvering. In days of yore, the square rig era, balls hung from a main mast yard of a stone frigate, (shore base), indicated the order for exterior clothing for the day. In winter dress periods, two balls meant "wear greatcoat".
What to Wear? That order was usually determined prior to wakey, wakey and someone would go outside to view the mast and report the order back to the others. That order might not be changed to agree with the actual weather, e.g. one black ball up all day even though it began pouring down rain at 0800. We would often be muttering sounds of discontent while carrying those slickers in the pouring rain or wearing our greatcoats during parade drill when the temperature had gone to 70 degrees F from the sub- zero at 0630. Common sense was not part of dress regulations. It was only important that we were all uniform. |  |
Renegades in Boats
 | We were renegades in boats. We prided ourselves with wearing what was practical. We were not ashamed to look like we just climbed out of a submarine on return from patrol on which we had strict water consumption restrictions and no barber. The dress police and GIs shuddered at the sight of us. But, our GI repellent diesel exhaust evening in fish-plant deodorant kept them at bay. Just a little trivia. Mind yer bubble Jim |
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