White Hats: Stories of the U.S. Navy Before World War II

By Floyd Beaver

Beaver sets down stories he heard many years ago as a white hat in the navy, writing with insight and understanding of the life of ordinary sailors in the years between the great wars.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1889901113
• ISBN13: 9781889901114
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Glencannon Pr
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Dealing with Look-See Pidgin

This is a great book with lots of information about the old Navy, where there was quite a bit of Look-See Pidgin going on. Look-See (just for show) Pidgin (mangled Chinese word for Business) was one of the things the Sailors in the old navy had to deal with. Ceremonies, decoration, and other things went away when World War II started. Fighting the enemy is what the Navy should do. When there is no enemy, it's Look-See Pidgin. This book gives great insight to what the Navy was like in the pre-war years. Almost all of the stories involve the Signal Bridge, China Station, and Right Arm Rates. I couldn't wait to pick this book back up and read more.

Tales from a True Sea Daddy

In the Navy, your "Sea Daddy" was an older, more experienced sailor who took you under his wing and looked out for you. Your Sea Daddy would pat you on the back or kick you in the butt as was necessary. The Sea Daddy often helped you chart your way through the rocks and shoals of Navy life with apocryphal tales of former shipmates faced with similar situations. Floyd Beaver is a Sea Daddy.The Navy was and is a strict caste system. At the top of the heap were the Commissioned Officers. They were the knights of the castle. In the middle of the heap were the Chief Petty Officers. They were the castle yeomen: stout retainers who had risen through the ranks by strict adherence to the holy book of Navy Regulations. At the bottom of the heap were the White Hats; so called because of the distinctive white "Dixie Cup" hats. These White Hats are the heroes in this book. These White Hats were well aware of their station in life. However, rather than relegating them to subservience; they were in fact freed to use their intelligence on having a good time in general and getting over on the Navy whenever possible.Floyd Beaver tells the struggles and trials that sailors have faced throughout history. He writes of aloof officers, lousy duty details, constant inspections, and the free spending, drunken liberties in the seedy Navy ports of call. His stories are at once funny and painfully poignant. He writes of the enlisted sailor: the Goat Head, the Swabbie, the Deck Ape, and the Skivvie Waver. If you are looking for battle strategies and the élan of war at sea, this is NOT your book. However, if you want to know what it feels like to be in Navy whites on the signal bridge of a cruiser, or drinking in a sailor bar, or one step ahead of the Shore Patrol ducking out the window of a fleet cathouse, then White Hats is the book you have been looking for.