Nautical Word of The Day...

Marine:

A seagoing soldier. Marines have been a recognized agency in the Royal Navy since 1755 and in the US Navy since November 10th, 1775.

Most nations with a navy have a Marine Corps, but with the exception of the UK and US, none actually serve at sea.

Sailors used to refer to empty bottles as "marines" because, in their view, both were useless (Editorial note: Oddly, the Marines often think of sailors being useless other than transport).

Legend says that the Duke of Clarence was dining in the mess aboard one of his ships. When he ordered the steward to remove the "dead marines", one of the officers protested to which the Duke replied that the bottle had done it's duty nobly and was ready to go again - much like a Marine.

Tell it to the Marines expresses disbelief.

Short

Feb 20

While always referring to a specialized force capable of fighting effectively in a shoreside engagement or on deck, wasn't one of the earliest common usages of "marines" applied to sharpshooting snipers? They would commonly be perched in the rigging where they could target opposing officers during close quarter battles or boarding.

Chuck

Feb 20

Yep and to prevent sailors from running to the bilges for safety when the shooting got hot and heavy.

Damn squids. :>)

Short

Feb 20

Opinions and stories about the "World Record Bass."

The Old Record Still Stands

The story behind the story

Missed World Record?

Big Bass

Disclaimer: This is a computer-generated and formatted feed of current postings to a public
Internet forum. We do not control the information delivered, nor do we endorse or monitor its
content. Internet forums may carry offensive, harmful, inaccurate, and otherwise inappropriate material.

Click to see the RSS XML version of this page

Click to see the Atom XML version of this page