A certificate as a "Ruler of the 180th Meridian" in the "Domain of the Golden Dragon," awarded to John Ardelt.
Each branch of service in the United States military has its own set of unique traditions, rituals, and ceremonies. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum archives documents many of these through letters in which men and women describe them to their loved ones, photographs that capture the events as they happen, and certificates or membership cards given to participants.
A certificate from "Neptunus Rex" attested by "Davey Jones" commemorating Gordon Foucault's crossing of the equator.
Another significant geographical line is the international date line, or 180 degrees latitude. However, rather than King Neptune presiding over it, a being known as the Golden Dragon rules supreme. Sailors who cross the international date line for the first time are initiated into its court and receive a certificate with similar language to the shellback certificate.
John Ardelt, a Whitewater native who served in the U.S. Army, received a decorative certificate upon crossing the international dateline aboard a U.S. Navy ship. Raymond Wendling, a Milwaukee native who served in the Pacific with the 9th Special Construction Battalion as a Seabee, received a membership card proving his status as a dragonback.
A certificate given to Ronald Kannenberg after his entrance into the Arctic Circle.
The U.S. Navy has a long, rich history of commemorating significant events in sailors’ lives. An example that is well documented in the archives are line crossing ceremonies. Dating back to the very beginning of the American Navy, which inherited the custom from the British Navy, line crossing ceremonies recognize sailors who cross a significant line of longitude or latitude on the globe for the first time. The rituals themselves were historically shrouded in mystery, often complex, sometimes rough, brutal, and dangerous to the initiates. They have evolved over time but remain a source of controversy.
The most common line crossing ceremony involves the equator. Sailors who have not crossed the line of zero degrees latitude are known as pollywogs. Upon crossing the equator for the first time, they become known as shellbacks or sons of Neptune. They receive an ornate certificate welcoming them into the court of King Neptune, often providing the date and longitude of their crossing, the ship they sailed on and their destination, and commending the new shellback to all mermaids, sea serpents, whales, and other ocean creatures both real and mythological.
Gordon Foucault, a Milwaukee native, served as a fire controlman operator third class aboard the USS Prince William, an escort cruiser that served in the Pacific theater during World War II. Foucault crossed the equator, and earned this decorative certificate, in October 1943 while aboard the SS Elehu Thomson, a transport ship taking sailors out to the Pacific and their ships.
Certificate given to Raymond Wendling for his membership in the "Order of the Golden Dragon" crossing of the 180th meridian.
A less common line crossing certificate in the archives belonged to Ronald Kannenberg, a Wauwatosa native who joined the navy in 1952 and served in the Korean War before becoming a career sailor. In October 1957, while serving with the Navy’s Military Sea Transportation Service, he crossed the line of 66 degrees, 33 minutes north latitude, also known as the Arctic Circle. Kannenberg was initiated into the court of Boreas Rex and the Order of the Top of the World. His certificate references polar bears, walruses, musk oxen, and blue nose mermaids along with other sea creatures.
These traditions and more, such an important part of the navy experience, are proudly preserved in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum archives.
"Crossing a Line with the U.S. Navy" was written by Russ Horton, Reference Archivist at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. Article adapted for the web by James Kovaleski, Marketing Specialist. This post is from an article first published in the Fall 2025 issue of The Bugle.