Why do sailors man the rails

MAJ Join to see. SFC Join to see it makes a good photo. Show More Comments. Read This Next. Sponsored Ad. Join nearly 2 million former and current members of the US military, just like you. Log In Sign Up. Sign Up with Facebook. Sign Up with Google. Sign Up with Email. Already have an account? Log In with Facebook. Log In with Google. Please enter an email address. Think of it like waving from the car in a ticker-tape parade although, being the military, they should strictly be at parade rest - no waving or smiling.

The traditional accompaniment is fire boats escorting the ship in spraying fountains of water. The sailors will all say they hate it.

Some secretly enjoy feeling just a little bit proud of having done the deployment, standing there reflecting on it being finally over, the spectacle they're making, seeing home for the first time in a while from topside, and everyone watching them and welcoming them home. That would be uncool to admit, though. Often it is more of a practical nuisance as well - all those guys have work to do upon entering port before they can go home, and would just as soon be doing it ASAP, instead of standing around for an hour and then having to go change into a working uniform first.

Manning the rails is also commonly done when leaving Pearl Harbor more somberly, no fanfare , as a salute to the participants in the attack in Depending on how long the maneuvering watch is, it can take a while. That is, in Pearl Harbor, they usually man up on the way in at the entrance buoys to the channel, and stop when the ship is moored.

Normally that is about one hour, which is typical of other places as well. No, nobody falls in. They stand a couple of feet back of the edge and don't move around very much. They cancel it in inclement weather nobody to watch them anyway. Off watch, sailors have the run of the ship with obvious exceptions - you can't just hang out on the bridge or combat or the engineering control stations; Pretty much places where you'd be a nuisance to people trying to do their jobs you stay out of unless you have official business there.

There are officer-only areas on surface ships, but that's usually just their living and eating areas. On nuclear ships, only the nuclear-trained personnel can go in the propulsion plant. In reference to ctmf's note about Pearl Harbor, here is a cool shot of the U. Lincoln crew manning the rails on the way out of Pearl.

Interesting AJ, even after 20 years in the Navy, mostly submarines, though, I hadn't realized that surface ships put the anchor out ready to drop while in the channel in your linked photo , instead of its normal housed position.

John Wayne and Cary Grant also quite delightful in Navy garb. Makes you wanna wake up and smell the polyester! Please note: Putting on the "blueberry" uniform does not work the same way, Liam Neeson. New Chief season. The Navy is a service surrounded by history and traditions and customs. One of our favorites happens in August when they do the CPO induction and you see all these ridiculously cheerful people out doing car washes to raise money. We like when good things happen to good people.

Now get out there and be the backbone of the Navy. The Big Turnaround. All the services do this in one way or another, but we love when kids join the Navy out of high school. Then they kind of look around and figure out who they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. My own nephew enlisted in the Navy and recently reenlisted and found a place in the world to do good work. Gotta love it. Huge support group. In Navy towns like Norfolk , San Diego, Jacksonville, and Bremerton you can't walk a block without running into someone with connections to the Navy.

Not only have these neighbors walked the walk, but they have really good advice about getting up to speed on all you need to do Never say goodbye. In Navy life, the limited number of bases means that you never really say goodbye to the people you meet. Instead we say, "Fair winds and following seas. Ships slipping over the horizon. One of the most beautiful moments of a Navy homecoming is that instant when the ship slips over the horizon and into view.