Was Popeye a Coastie?

[CoastieRon]

This one is for you Navy Moose:

From Was popeye in the navy or coast guard

While for most of his "career" he is portrayed as a civilian sailor, when in the military (ignoring the one "In the Army Now" episode), he was in the Coast Guard (source: Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves he was stationed at a Coast Guard small boat station). Much of the confusion can be caused by two facts:


1) During times of war (eg WWII ) the Coast Guard is transferred to the Department of the Navy. So although he was still a Coastie, he could have been serving on a Navy Ship. (Even today it is not uncommon to find a Coast Guard team serving on a Navy Ship.)


2) During the WWII era, the Coast Guard uniform and the Navy uniform were almost identical, with the minor differences being too small to show in a comic strip. Even today most of the formal uniforms of the two services are identical except for the design on the buttons.





Now, with that being said, it was commonly understood that there was a rivalry between Bluto and Popeye because Popeye was a Coastie and Bluto was a Squiddy......

Had to be done.......

 

[AntiHippie]

So not only was he a CG Boatswain's Mate, he was a Boat Forces guy, too. Sweet.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

Diggin, the Browning on the front of his boat!!!

 

[Knob Creek]

Popeye joined the U.S. Navy in 1941, with The Mighty Navy (1941), the first of several war-related shorts and the first time he would appear in an all-white uniform.


History | Popeye

 

[MisterHappy]

Not to dis any persons of the Navy, Coastie, or Merchant Marine persuasion, but:

Official POPEYE Fanclub


Gotta say, that if people put enough time into this stuff, it gives their opinion street cred....

 

[ericcif]

Popeye joined the U.S. Navy in 1941, with The Mighty Navy (1941), the first of several war-related shorts and the first time he would appear in an all-white uniform.


History | Popeye

That about sums it up. Question, now that the Coast Guard falls under the Dept. Of Homeland Security do they still fall under the Navy during wartime?

Sent from my Z10 using Tapatalk 2

 

[CoastieRon]

Popeye joined the U.S. Navy in 1941, with The Mighty Navy (1941), the first of several war-related shorts and the first time he would appear in an all-white uniform.


History | Popeye

From that link, the Ali Baba episode is before he joins the Navy, hence, he was a Coastie first.....

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

IBTL

 

[CoastieRon]

A couple of other things of note. Popeye was a solitary Coxswain. In cartoons where he is seen driving a boat, he does not have an officer overseeing him. Why is this important?

The Navy always has an officer overseeing a Petty Officer when the Petty Officer is driving the boat. This is not the case in the Coast Guard. In the Coast Guard, you can be an E-3 and be in command of a vessel. I started at E-4 as a Coxswain with no oversight.

I must be wicked bored. Either that or just killing time before going to Louisiana in the morning......

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That about sums it up. Question, now that the Coast Guard falls under the Dept. Of Homeland Security do they still fall under the Navy during wartime?

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This is a great question. Usually it is the Cutter Forces that will be pulled into the Navy. No the boat forces.

 

[AntiHippie]

A couple of other things of note. Popeye was a solitary Coxswain. In cartoons where he is seen driving a boat, he does not have an officer overseeing him. Why is this important?

The Navy always has an officer overseeing a Petty Officer when the Petty Officer is driving the boat. This is not the case in the Coast Guard. In the Coast Guard, you can be an E-3 and be in command of a vessel. I started at E-4 as a Coxswain with no oversight.

I must be wicked bored. Either that or just killing time before going to Louisiana in the morning......

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This is a great question. Usually it is the Cutter Forces that will be pulled into the Navy. No the boat forces.

No O's on our boats, and I've seen quite a few E-4 Tactical Coxswains with Commence Fire authority. Probably more junior enlisted than O's in the Coast Guard with their own authority to release batteries/weapons free.

 

[Serapis]

Popeye was a REAL Boatswains Mate because he was in the Navy.

FYI, when I was an E-3 I had no O supervision. It was my boat and up to me if I felt it safe enough to let the LE coasties board a vessel, which ruffled the CG LtJg a bit

 

[AntiHippie]

Popeye was a REAL Boatswains Mate because he was in the Navy.

FYI, when I was an E-3 I had no O supervision. It was my boat and up to me if I felt it safe enough to let the LE coasties board a vessel, which ruffled the CG LtJg a bit

Probably because he was used to Coxswains being able to safely transfer a boarding team!



(Yes, I do mean that in good humor)

 

[Navy Moose]

Shipmate, I didn't see this thread until just now. I was wondering which parts of the CG might be pulled into the Navy in time of war, thank you for the clarification. Semper Paratus!

 

[AntiHippie]

Moose, the way that ends up 'looking' is simply CG units under Navy TACON - which actually happens quite frequently. Think Force Protection missions where the Navy wouldn't have the organic capabilities and specific authorities for.

 

[Serapis]

We used coasties for counter drug operations where we had to supplement our boarding party with them in order to legally board.