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Originally Posted by Dreadnought
When a capital ship was built for the USN what are mast coins? 
p.s. Not sure if this is still followed in modern day shipbuilding practices. |
Whan a warship was built, old tradition placed coins under the mast when it was stepped (set in place). The superstition was that if the ship sank, the coins would help pay for the boatman to cross over the River Styx.
Whether they do that anymore or not, I don't know. When we removed the mast on
New Jersey in 1981 we found some coins. They were placed back under it with other memorabilia coins. However, we didn't find any coins under the
Missouri's mast. Just some corroded metal that could have been coins.