To mark the 50th anniversary of Black Tot Day, Adam Headley takes a look at the history of the rum ration in the Royal Navy
When it came, the order from the Admiralty Board was… well, sobering.
On July 31, 1970, the long tradition of the rum ration ended in Britain’s Royal Navy. For 300 years, about as long as Britannia had ruled the waves, the daily dispensation of spirits to the ratings of a ship’s company had been a time-honoured tradition. But the realities of running a modern navy outweighed the value of the longstanding libation.
“Rum is a particular naval privilege of very long standing and one which is cherished and enjoyed, ” read the obituary for the rum ration. “The board has given full weight to this fact. It has, on the other hand, concluded that a daily issue of rum is standards of efficiency required now that the tasks in ships are concerned with complex and often delicate machinery and systems, on the correct functioning of people’s lives may attend.”
The last call of “Up Spirits!” was heard and pursers – keepers of the rum stores aboard Royal Navy vessels across the globe – supervised the last distribution of the daily ‘tot’ as it was fondly known. The occasion, memorialised as Black T…
