Navy Disciplines Sailors For Hazing Ritual

Twelve sailors were disciplined for taking part in a hazing incident in which a sailor’s chest was shaved and he was smeared with food, the Navy said Friday.

The hazing took place June 16 aboard the USS Princeton in a ceremony called Crossing the Line, a rite of passage for sailors who cross the equator. Sailors also dressed up as King Neptune and the mariner Davy Jones and crawled around on the ship.

The sailor’s chest was shaved and his crewmates spread “food items on his upper body against his will,” Master Chief Doug Gorham said.

Twelve sailors were reduced in rank, docked pay or ordered to stay on board when the guided-missile cruiser is in port, Gorham said.