112:, saying "The Admiralty Board concludes that the rum issue is no longer compatible with the high standards of efficiency required now that the individual's tasks in ships are concerned with complex, and often delicate, machinery and systems on the correct functioning of which people's lives may depend". This led to a debate in the House of Commons on the evening of 28 January 1970, now referred to as the "Great Rum Debate", started by
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look into the problems associated with the rum ration, recommended that it be eliminated completely. However, rather than ending it the navy further halved it to one-eighth of an imperial pint (71 ml) per day, eliminating the evening serving of the ration. This led to the ending of the ration for officers in 1881 and warrant officers in 1918.
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In the 19th century, there was a change in the attitude towards alcohol due to continued discipline problems in the navy. In 1824 the size of the tot was halved to one-quarter of an imperial pint (142 ml) in an effort to improve the situation. In 1850, the
Admiralty's Grog Committee, convened to
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was used with an alcohol content below 1%. Due to the difficulty in storing the large quantities of liquid that this required, in 1655 a half pint (284 ml) of rum was made equivalent and became preferred to beer. Over time, drunkenness on board naval vessels increasingly became a problem and the
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in
Hampshire, there was a mock funeral procession complete with black coffin and accompanying drummers and piper. The move was not popular with the ratings despite an extra can of beer being added to the daily rations in compensation.
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31 July 1970 was the final day of the rum ration and it was poured as usual at 6 bells in the forenoon watch (11am) after the
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In the 17th century, the daily drink ration for
English sailors was a gallon of beer (about four litres), although frequently
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of "up spirits". Some sailors wore black armbands, tots were "buried at sea" and in one navy training camp,
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in 1740 and ordered to be mixed with water in a 4:1 water to rum ratio and split into two servings per day.
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reading "Last Issue of Rum to the Royal Navy 31 July 1970". The cancellation appeared on a
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Image of cover with "Last Issue of Rum to the Royal Navy 31 July 1970" cancellation.
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259:"Royal Navy – Index to Miscellaneous Notes – 19th and early 20th Century"
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Last day on which rum was issued to Royal Navy sailors (31 July 1970)
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with reading "Last Day of Issue", a play of words on they typical
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28 February 1990 was the final day of the rum ration in the
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31 March 1972 was the final day of the rum ration in the
315:"7 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Rum – Forbes"
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having already discontinued the rum ration, in 1921):
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issued a written answer to a question from the MP for
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ration was formalised in naval regulations by
Admiral
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Black Tot Day was subsequently followed in two other
289:"Royal Navy (Rum Ration) (Hansard, 28 January 1970)"
53:(31 July 1970) was the last day on which the
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142:The Portsmouth General Post Office issued a
347:"What did they do with the drunken sailor?"
134:, the Royal Naval Electrical College at
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245:Nelson's Blood: The Story of Naval Rum
25:Measuring out the tot (diorama aboard
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217:"Beer on Board in the Age of Sail"
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313:Porges, Seth (29 November 2012).
215:Blakely, Julia (2 August 2017).
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469:Alcohol in the United Kingdom
57:issued sailors with a daily
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464:1970 in the United Kingdom
459:History of the Royal Navy
474:Alcohol and the military
428:"RNZN and the Rum Issue"
403:2 September 2011 at the
398:Woods Rum, Black Tot Day
247:. Naval Institute Press.
100:On 17 December 1969 the
432:Torpedo Bay Navy Museum
178:Royal New Zealand Navy
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293:hansard.parliament.uk
222:Smithsonian Libraries
163:Royal Australian Navy
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263:www.pbenyon.plus.com
243:Pack, James (1982).
144:special cancellation
377:Royal Navy Memories
171:Royal Canadian Navy
159:Commonwealth navies
327:on 4 December 2012
152:first day of issue
118:Erith and Crayford
110:Christopher Mayhew
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373:"Day of Mourning"
114:James Wellbeloved
61:(the daily tot).
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379:. 13 August 2009
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265:. Archived from
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148:philatelic cover
40:The grog tub of
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353:. 30 July 2010
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331:17 December
131:Collingwood
453:Categories
202:References
196:Rum ration
76:small beer
59:rum ration
55:Royal Navy
437:27 August
129:HMS
116:, MP for
42:HMS
27:HMS
401:Archived
383:6 August
357:6 August
298:7 August
273:6 August
185:See also
44:Cavalier
136:Fareham
65:History
29:Belfast
320:Forbes
228:20 May
161:(the
439:2017
385:2016
359:2016
333:2014
300:2020
275:2016
230:2019
191:Grog
125:pipe
351:BBC
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