Bill,

I checked w/my boss who was a junior officer back in the ’50s. He says
that seniority was based on the individual first (if known) and the size
of the ship second–which can be tricky if the warships are roughly the
same size. It was never based, to his knowledge, on a “senior” Navy.

Apparently, when operating in a region with lots of other warships,
local commanders tend to circulate lists of officer and ship seniority
lists precisely to avoid the error of a junior officer of one navy not
rendering honors to a senior officer of another.

I guess that would mean the U.S. destroyer would not hesitate to render
honors to the British CV.

Timothy L. Francis
Historian
Naval Historical Center
email address: Francis.Timothy@nhc.navy.mil
voice: (202) 433-6802

The above remarks are my opinions, not those of the U.S. Navy or the
Department of Defense

> ———-
> From: Bill Riddle[SMTP:riddleb@fhu.disa.mil]
> Reply To: mahan@microworks.net
> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 1998 8:44 AM
> To: mahan@microwrks.com
> Subject: Passing Honors
>
> A thought in passing…
>
> When war ships pass each other (usually in the channel) they
> render
> “Passing Honors.” Which is the junior saluting and the senior
> returning the salute, based on the rank/date of rank or the
> captain.
>
> Again, I seem to recall that, when this involved ships of
> different
> nations, it was the “junior” navy that saluted the senior navy.
> And
> the US Navy was the senior navy in the world, so did not render
> honors
> to anyone, rather returned the salute when it was rendered.