During the Russian Revolution, sailors were one of the main bastions of Bolshevik support. It was sailors that kicked off the German Revolution of 1918. In 1936 the Spanish sailors remained loyal to the Republic, mutinied against their officers and stranded Franco and his troops in North Africa. Goering was supposed to have joked that they had a “conservative army, a Nazi air force, and a communist navy.” I think I’ve also read about British sailors striking because they thought they would be sent to fight the Bolsheviks in Russia.

Even today I think the US Navy has a reputation of being one of the more liberal branches of the military.