Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Feb 4, 2004
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days, that all these memories come flooding back to me.
Royal Navy Uniform
While thinking of a subject to write the other day this item came up in one of the convos I was having, so I decided to write it up.
Now before we go any further, all the information I have on the subject on Royal Navy uniform was told to me years ago. I have not actually gone into a massive research on the subject, ok. This is in case some Boffin comes in later and blows me out of the water.
When I first joined up in 1969 we were given our uniforms along with some history on how it came about, this is what we were told.
Now at the time I was in, we still had to put seven creases horizontally in the trousers, starting with one facing out and the next one facing in? This was rather difficult to do as it involved a lot of folding, a hot iron and a piece of brown paper. The reason for these creases we were told, was to represent the seven seas of our planet.
We also had a 'blue collar' and this also had to have three creases in it; the two outer ones had to be facing up and the middle one facing in! These three creases represented the three oceans of our planet, as do the three white lines that border the collar. Now the reason for this collar goes way back to when sailors used to tar their long hair into a pony tail style. This was to prevent head lice, as they could not wash very often. The blue collar was to stop the tar on the hair from marking their shirt.
There was also what we called a 'silk' in the uniform. This consisted of a large piece of silk which we had to fold and press down until it was around one and half inches wide. It was worn round the neck and tied in a bow on the lower chest. The reason for this silk, goes way back to the days of cannons, where the gunners used to wear them in battle around their heads. The idea was to keep the sweat and blood from running into their eyes in the heat of battle.
As well as the silk there was a lanyard worn around the neck, which was looped around the silk and held in place with the same bow mentioned earlier. This lanyard was worn around the necks of the gunners and used to fire the cannons. It was actually a smouldering slow burn fuse which was used to light the powder fuse of the cannon.
The reason for the trousers being 'bell bottomed' was to make removal of them easier if you fell overboard. This was the reason I was told, but there may be others offered up. In the old days trousers were made from canvas, the same canvas which was used for the sails - the reason being that it was a hard-wearing material and they had to make their own clothes in those days. The civilian clothes that they were wearing when press-ganged, would not last long at sea. That is why you are given a 'make and mend' and it is still called that even today. This was awarded to any sailor who had completed the 'Middle Watch1'. He could use the time to sleep or make and repair his clothing.
The same watches are still worked today, as are many of the old customs. The term 'head2' is so called because in the old days a sailor used to have to go the netting on front of the ship, where the ships' carved mascot was, to go to the toilet!
The reason the 'deck heads3' were so low was due to the fact that the average height of a sailor in those days was 5 feet 2 inches and the design of a war ship meant that the more decks they had above sea level the more cannons they could carry.
There are many other expressions and routines used today that have gained their place from history. A lot of other countries have copied or adapted the Royal Naval uniform which, when you consider it was at one time, the largest and strongest fleet in the world and has indeed the oldest history and traditions, is no bad thing.
The uniform worn by the crew on board the Hmy Britannia was slightly different to the standard one in as much as it had the old style four button flap front, and a silk bow on the lower back of the trousers. This was true at the time when I was a crew member in 1972-74 but may have changed later. Also we wore plimsolls on our feet,without socks; this was to maintain quiet and prevent damage to the wooden decks.
Discipline has always been strict in the Navy which, when you consider that a lot of the crew had been press-ganged and did not want to be there, any 'below deck' grumbling was frowned upon. If nothing else you were a team, and a good team made an efficient fighting crew.
