This page is being used for the time being as a collection point for recollections, notes, and links to sites where more information can be found about sailors and nautical items of interest.  

Beady eyed rag hats

Rag hat was a term used to refer to an enlisted sailor below the rank of Chief Petty Officer (E1-E6).  I say was because I’m not sure that it’s used much, or at all, in the more politically correct Navy of the 21^st century.  While I haven’t been able to confirm the origin of the term rag hat, I don’t think it was an “official” term.   In searching around the internet for references to it I have come across some things but it appears to have been a slang term.  My guess is that it originated in reference to a sailor’s white hat that had a little age on it and had started to fray a bit from repeated scrubbings to maintain its whiteness.  Regardless, back in the days before we had to put up with the idiocy of “political correctness thought police” trying to destroy American exceptionalism rag hat was a term used with pride to refer to one’s having served in the enlisted ranks of the U.S. Navy.   These days some self appointed Word Nazi might accuse you of having committed an Islamophobic slur if you referred to a sailor as a rag hat.  

I recall a fellow officer telling me of an admonition by a senior officer at some gathering of young officers concerning leadership and dealing with enlisted sailors.  The admonition as best as I can recall it was something like, “Now those beady eyed rag hats are sly, cunning and devious and are to be carefully watched at all times…”  The PC police today would fly into a rage over something like this.  As a commissioned officer that had had also served a tour of duty as an enlisted man, I often referred to myself with pride as a “former beady eyed rag hat” and as for that sly, cunning, and devious business any officer that took that too lightly was a damn fool in my book.   

That prior enlisted service came in quite handy throughout the remainder of my career as a commissioned officer.  When dealing with beady eyed rag hats it was generally to my advantage that they knew that I knew first hand how sly, cunning and devious they could be when they put their minds to it.   Them rag hats knew that I was far more likely to catch on to one of their schemes than other officers that did not have that first hand experience.  It didn’t work in all cases because rag hats are creative and their deviousness evolves over time.  As your time away from the enlisted ranks increases your rag hat scheme detector begins to atrophy a bit. 

A short remembrance, The Bermuda Fueling Fiasco [1965], from the USS Dogfish (SS-350) Web site is an example of how the slyness and cunning of a beady eyed rag hat probably saved an Engineering Officer’s butt.  That Engineer may not have had the good sense to fully appreciate the slipperiness of his Fuel King’s record keeping and fast talking at the time but upon reflection later on he probably did.  Note this recollection includes a reference to the sly and cunning attributes of rag hats (also referred to as Beadies here) whereas my recollection of the description included devious.   I don’t know which description was more commonly used but my experience tells me that the inclusion of devious makes for a more accurate description.  

For a description of the original enlisted issue pea coat in which the author refers to himself as having been a rag hat, see this very entertaining and enlightening article, The PeaCoat, on a Web site for the USS Oxford (AG-159/AGTR-1).  Warning 1 – if you have issues with slight “salty” language this may not be right for you… too bad… your loss.  Warning 2 – If the background music bothers you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and turn it off. 

Some very interesting answers about Navy uniform history can be found on this page at BlueJacket.com such as the origin of the white hat and why a sailors uniform jumper had a flap in the back and why the black neckerchief.