An "old salt" is an old sailor or mariner who tells oral history and sea stories. Sometimes deemed a sage within their domain, and while sometimes a raconteur, much of the history and traditions of mariners are passed from generation to generation as told and retold by old salts. Their factual oral histories and fictional sea stories often intermingle and thus may overall be truthful, half-true, or fiction. Each narrative told by an old salt tends to have the aim of enhancing the reputation of the old salt, the old salt's companions, or the old salt's forebears, although they may also tell instructive tales of tragedy.
A Battered "Old Salt"
Quartermaster Dick Libby, USN, an Old Salt: "Twenty years in the Navy. "Never drunk on duty - never sober on liberty." Portrait painted circa 1834 by Charles O. Cole
Christopher Watson Grady is a United States Navy admiral who is currently serving as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff since December 20, 2021.
Christopher W. Grady
Rear Adm. Grady, as commander, Carrier Strike Group 1, prepares food on Thanksgiving dinner for sailors aboard the USS Carl Vinson, November 27, 2014.
Vice Adm. Grady visits the Lindormen-class support vessel EML Wambola (A433) during exercise BALTOPS 2017, June 10, 2017.
Grady is sworn in as the 12th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on December 20, 2021.