# Beer rations?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721 "2003-03-20T03:59:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/1 "2003-03-20T03:59:15Z")
> [@](#): > > British sailors were told their beer rations would stop, which many regarded as a sure sign of impending hostilities. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56689-2003Mar19.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56689-2003Mar19.html) Damn…I joined the wrong military. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/2 "2003-03-20T15:14:15Z")
American sailors get 'em too. The difference is that the Brits get good bitter every day, while American sailors are issued two cans of watery Budweiser, and that only after 45 straight days underway. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/3 "2003-03-20T15:16:46Z")
If not a sign, certainly a reason for. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/4 "2003-03-20T16:20:32Z")
When my husband was in ‘Nam, they got a can of beer every day with a meal. He’d trade candybars for other guys’ beer and had himself a good ol’ time. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/5 "2003-03-20T16:34:27Z")
We had one of the first navy beer days when I was on the Constellation in '81. Very tightly controlled. We were on station so had to have a stand down day since a majority of the crew would be potentially unfit for duty. A small portion of the crew stood waches and alert fighters and had their beer the following day. I was standing watch. Everyone was issued two cans with the noon meal and had to turn in the cans before laving the mess deck. Alcoholics were paying up to $75 per beer to those that didn’t want them. I would have preferred the money to the beer. Later we had some visiting sailors from the HMS Invinceble who couldn’t believe we didn’t get beer every day. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/6 "2003-03-20T16:51:55Z")
Wow. You know I never actually thought about this topic before. I just took it for granted I could drive across the street to the Class 6 and grab as much brew as I wanted any time. I knew there was an as-yet unexplained reason I went Army instead of Navy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/7 "2003-03-20T16:54:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56689-2003Mar19.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56689-2003Mar19.html) > Damn…I joined the wrong military. \*\* And if you’d joined 200 hundred years ago, life would have been even [better …drunker](http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~ausnavy/Navy_Life.htm) anyway > [@](#): > > (The British sailor) was entitled to half a pint of spirits, or a pint of wine, or a gallon of beer, every day :eek: ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/8 "2003-03-20T17:15:39Z")
A gallon? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/9 "2003-03-20T18:01:02Z")
As I recall, the French Troops in the Gulf War (Episode I) had wine in their field meals (equivalent of MREs). ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/10 "2003-03-20T19:30:14Z")
I worked for a military aircraft maintenance company. We had guys stationed in Italy, and SOP for them was to walk up the hill and pump wine out of a GAS TANK kind of gizmo. Cool, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/11 "2003-03-20T19:43:20Z")
**Kalhoun** : The home vintner in me just shudders at the quality of wine they’d get out of that kind of equipment… gah. ---
**Author:** ![DaToad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/12 "2003-03-20T19:59:26Z")
While I was in RVN our beer ration was 2 per day (plus two sodas a day). In my unit, we voted to dump all of the beer ration into a kitty and then sold the beers back to ourselves. Each man could buy up to six per day. We took the money and bought more beer at the PX. With the ration from those that didn’t drink beer, and the money we made selling beer to ourselves, everyone (that wanted it) always had plenty of beer. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/13 "2003-03-20T21:28:25Z")
I like beer. * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beer-rations/162721/14 "2003-03-20T21:55:12Z")
## quote: ## (The British sailor) was entitled to half a pint of spirits, or a pint of wine, or a gallon of beer, every day Note that this would have been rum (or other spirits) mixed with water or “small beer” (low alcohol)., and not as intoxicating as it sounds Beer was usually issued in port (wine in the Mediterranean), with rum issued at sea, but this varied depending on what was available, especially in non-british ports. Royal Navy officers could drink whatever they could afford, either personally or through the officer’s mess. (Of course this was true of everyday life as well - the period was a hard-drinkin’ one!) I always figured that the US Navy was being punished by puritanistic descendants of the Pilgrims.