Crossing the line and the authority of naval tradition

What is the weirdest tradition still used by navies?

Crossing-the-line ceremonies stand out to outsiders, but they apply to anyone new to the equator and temporarily let experienced senior ratings direct even high-ranking officers through the ritual.

Crossing-the-line ceremonies apply to those crossing the equator for the first time, including a captain who has never completed the ceremony. Experience of the ritual can temporarily give a senior rating authority over someone who normally outranks them. The participants disagree about how rank affects the severity of the experience and whether the practice is best described as hazing. Dr. Clarke recalls a senior-officer friend who had moved from submarines to a surface ship and faced the ceremony after making age jokes about his chief. The example illustrates the informal bargaining around ceremony and rank, without establishing that every ship treats junior and senior participants alike.