It was common, I believe, 50 years ago that Navy crews on extended deployments at sea were given the opportunity to grow beards and mustaches, options not allowed otherwise by regulations. Biddle‘s crew in 1969 was given that chance.
These had to be manly beards, however. At some point during the first period online, the XO inspected crew members with face hair and selected “the best among them.” I chose not to compete (meaning I had failed at hirsuteness). And then we went back to facial hair by regulation, i.e., none.
As our cruisebook reported about beards, “They started sprouting after Hawaii, were judged in the Gulf of Tonkin, and were shaved off before Subic.”
In 1970, when Admiral Elmo Zumwalt became Chief of Naval Operations, one of his early “Z-grams” changed regulations and permitted beards and mustaches. After things got a little “hairy,” regulations began to narrow what was permitted. Finally, in 1984, CNO Admiral James Watkins banned all beards, permitting mustaches that didn’t extend below the bottom of one’s upper lip. Current regulations are about the same, though waivers for beards can be granted by commanding officers for medical or religious reasons.