In the Navy

For once, these pictures are not mine, but feature sailors from both the US and the French Navy shirt-free. All are true historical pictures. Another difference with the other galleries is that I needed a larger format for these pictures to be correctly displayed. So this page includes only thumbnails, and you'll have to click on them to get the full picture. The full pictures are rather large (130 to 380 K, says my Windows 98, so please be patient.....).

Aboard the American aircraft-carrier SARATOGA, sometime in 1944 or 1945.

The text in the full picture gives a summary of the US Navy dress-code during WW2. The relevant sentence here (which you will find by scrolling down to the bottom of the full picture) is "The crew were given considerable freedom (...). Depending on the weather, they would be found (...) or even bare-chested."

Click anywhere and enjoy !

Aboard the French helicopter-carrier JEANNE D'ARC, sometime between 1987 and 1989.

The JEANNE D'ARC is used in peace-time as a training ship for junior officers who have just joined the French Navy. This includes a lenghty cruise in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where France still has some tiny colonies. Imagine how these guys (who are usually in their late teens or early twenties) are lucky : they are in France during the Northern Hemisphere summer and in Polynesia during the Southern Hemisphere summer. Talk about getting the best of both worlds... And notice how freedom of dress also seems to be the rule here. Now click anywhere you want and enjoy !

By the way, did you notice that both the 40's American and the 80's French guys played "shirts and skins" ball games ? Fortunately, in both cases, skins are more numerous than shirts.

WARNING : Both sets of pictures are covered by copyright.

I took my own risks by displaying these pictures here, be aware of possible (but unlikely ;-) risks if you download them.

In the Navy

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