20. The British Royal Navy’s Long History With Rum
For centuries, rum and the British Royal Navy were inseparable. From as far back as the reign of King Henry VIII, English sailors enjoyed a daily ration of alcohol. It was issued not just to keep the crews happy and lubricated, but also as a matter of health. On long voyages, water in wooden casks would eventually go bad and spoil sooner or later. The addition of alcohol to the water would extend its shelf life, and push its expiration date more towards the later rather than sooner end of the spectrum.
For generations, British sailors were issued French brandy. After Britain captured Jamaica in 1655, however, the Royal Navy began to replace its sailors’ daily ration of French brandy with Jamaican produced rum. The transition was helped by heavy lobbying from wealthy and influential British West Indian planters, whose sugar plantations produced rum’s main ingredient, molasses. So the issuance of rum to the Royal Navy also took an aspect of financial support for an important British industry. Eventually, the daily rum ration of half a pint became an integral part of British sailors’ lives.
