17. The End of the Royal Navy’s Rum Ration
Social reforms and changed attitudes towards vices such as booze eventually began to chip away at the Royal Navy’s rum tradition. Bowing to the winds of change, the daily rum ration issued to British Tars was reduced from half a pint to a quarter pint in the 1850s. Nonetheless, the rum ration was not banned outright and continued to be issued for the remainder of the nineteenth century, throughout both world wars, and for much of the twentieth century. The increasing sophistication of military technology, however, made the daily alcohol ration increasingly anachronistic, not to mention hazardous.
Drunk sailors on modern naval vessels were too great a danger to their ships and crewmates. So on July 31st, 1970, the Admiralty finally abolished the daily rum ration once and for all. The date, known forever after known as “Black Friday” in the Royal Navy, was one of mourning. Solemn ceremonies took place on all active-duty ships. They featured black armbands, muffled drums, mournful pipers, and flag-draped coffins, as British sailors bid farewell to a tradition that had lasted for more than three centuries.
