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On This Day: Last rum rations handed out to Royal Navy sailors on Black Tot Day
JULY 31, 1970: The last daily rum rations handed out to Royal Navy sailors after a 315-year-old tradition was finally ended on this day in 1970.
It became known as Black Tot Day and many servicemen wore funereal armbands as they received their eighth-of-a-pint portions at six bells in the forenoon watch (11am).
On some ships, sailors buried their tots at sea and even held funeral processions with coffins amid anger at the government decision.
A special postage stamp, with the slogan ‘Last Issue of Rum in the Royal Navy July 31, 1970’, was also sold in Portsmouth, the home port to the majority of the fleet.
Ministers felt that drinking high-strength alcohol – although it was usually ‘spliced’ with water – was too dangerous when operating complex machinery.
Servicemen in the Royal Navy, which was one of the last navies to stop the daily rum ration, were given an extra can of beer a day as compensation.
Two years later the Canadian Royal Navy followed suit and the last sea force to end the tradition was the Royal New Zealand Navy, which stopped in 1990.
The U.S. Navy was the first to stop serving grog, as it was often called, in 1862 and the Royal Australian Navy did the same in 1920.
The tradition dates back to 1655 when, to save space, the Royal Navy replaced the daily gallon of beer for sailors, with half a pint of rum.
But drunkenness was a problem and in 1740 Admiral Edward Vernon ordered four parts of water to be added for each one of spirits.
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He also demanded that servings were split in two and served twice daily instead of once.
In 1756, ships were required to add small quantities of citrus juice to the ration to prevent scurvy – a practice that led to U.S. nickname of ‘limeys’ for Britons.
Rations were cut in half in 1823 and once again in 1850 to the once-daily amount that would be served for the remaining 120 years.
The rum itself was usually purchased from distillers in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the British Virgin Islands and had to be at least 57% alcohol.
To ensure it was strong enough, sailors would sometimes douse gunpowder with it and check that it still burned.
The drink was usually served in a special barrel, also known as the ‘Rum Tub’ or ‘Grog Tub’ and it was often ornately decorated and reinforced with brass.
The ritual is shown in a British Pathé newsreel that filmed Royal Navy sailors on board the ‘computer ship of the future’ HMS Glamorgan in 1967.
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A senior officer watches on as rum and water are poured into a barrel emblazoned with the words ‘The Queen: God Bless Her’ before tot glass servings are prepared.
Crewmembers then file past as their name was marked off a list.
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Those aged under 20 would not receive any grog and those who declared themselves teetotal would instead receive an extra three pence a day.
Parliament twice debated whether to end the tradition during the 1800s, but it was not until Admiral Peter Hill-Norton demanded the abolition that MPs voted in favour.
While the daily ration was stopped, the order to ‘splice the mainbrace’ – an order by the monarch to enjoy a tot of rum – continues as a form of praise for good service.
