Royal Navy collar

[Lou Barron]

I was always in the impression that the stripes on the collar represent the of the victories of Nelsons sea battles if so why is it that the American ,German and the Japanese navies had the same stripes

[john sutton]

lou
because we had the best navy in the world .So who else would they copy?

[Jim Brady]

When I was a Sea Cadet we had seven pleats across our bell bottoms which I believe was for the seven seas and our collar was ironed into four which was for the four winds,I cant remember now what the stripes represented.I'm sure Hugh will put us right if he reads this.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Captain Kong]

When I was a Sea Cadet we were told it was for the three victories of Nelson.
There were Four Victories of Nelson, but because of the initials only three are mentioned.
The Battles of Copenhagen, Ushant, Nile and Trafalgar.
Cheers
Brian.

[Hugh]

I am afraid the three stripes on a sailor's collar have no special significance despite what has been written.
The bell-bottom trousers that we wore (I had 7 pleats), again, nothing to do with the seven seas. If you were tall you had 7 if you were not so tall you had 5.
The uniform has changed quite a bit in recent years and when I joined up we had the bell-bottom trousers but when I moved to the next stage of my training the bell-bottoms were done away with and the trousers had a pleat down the middle. I have to say I preferred the old uniform.

Regards
Hugh

[John Pruden]

yes hugh turned them inside out to put the 7 crises in the pants? jp

[Don Rafferty]

When I was at the Inde, we had two uniforms, our best, for church parade and liberty were the serge bell bottoms and jacket with white front and silk, was this our 'number ones'?..... our everyday wear was our 'number eights', light blue cotton shirt and dark blue cotton trousers, so what happened to our numbers 2,3,4,5,6 and 7?

[Hugh]

Don,
Your No.1 uniform was your best or ceremonial one - In the RN it would be gold badges. No.2 uniform was was a working uniform, similar but with red badges. You are correct that No.8 was your everyday working rig. There were other variations of the uniform such as half blues i.e. blue serge trousers and white front cant remember the No given to them. There were others such as the full rig minus the collar or minus the lanyard. Must be getting old can't remember.

Regards
Hugh

[Captain Kong]

When I was a QM in Cunard we had to wear a full Royal Navy looking uniform on the Bridge and on Gangway watch in the 50s and 60s
with Crossed Anchors on the sleeve.

In Canadian Pacific we had to wear a boiler suit with a RN cap on, we looked daft.
Brian

[Hugh]

My father was a QM during the war mainly sailing with Ellerman's - here he is wearing white front and City Line cap (photo probably mid to late fifties): My Father's Story. The only give away as to whether he was RN or MN in the photo would be the cap tally.

Regards
Hugh