Anybody who has served in the Navy here?

I'm going through some of dad's papers, looking for his discharge papers, and came across a card. it says "Sacred Order of the Golden Dragon". It has the name of his ship and a latitude # on it. Can anyone explain what it is?

As I understand it, they celebrate when their ship crosses certain lines on the globe. Casey Jones may be able to confirm this. I was AD USAF.

@ Elizabeth Theus

Lots of info here :

Sacred Order

Thom Paine wrote:@ Elizabeth Theus

Lots of info here :

Sacred Order

Thanks. Found a lot of interesting info. Dad's was dated in 1946, on the USS Mc Caffrey.

Crusader wrote:As I understand it, they celebrate when their ship crosses certain lines on the globe.  Casey Jones may be able to confirm this.  I was AD USAF.

That's right. The ritual of crossing the equator was called "Shellback" and each ship used to have its own tradition.

Sounds like that was the ship's name for their Shellbacks. IIRC, ours was Royal Order of Neptune - pretty lame, but this was four years after Tailhook, and initiation rituals were suddenly very-much frowned upon.

So he did his Westpac, crossed the Equator, and had the card to prove it. If you like, keep it in memory. If not, try and sell it on Fleabay for a few bucks.

https://fraternalandmasonichistory.weebly.com › the-sacred-order-of-the-golden-dragon.html

https://www.worthpoint.com › worthopedia › wwii-sacred-order-golden-dragon-card-150360651

https://www.vetfriends.com › units2 › 408853 › sacred-order-of-the-golden-dragon

Well heck. Just google it, I guess ...

Worsley and Timms are the only two i know of who have " sailed the seven seas "