On the 31st July 1970, the Admiralty, in their wisdom, decided to cease the daily issue of rum to the lower decks.  Their Lordship's decision to end this 300 year old tradition - and the familiar pipe of "UP SPIRITS" - brought widespread dismay throughout the Fleet and many a Jack Tar put pen to paper to record their feelings.       Reproduced below is one such offering..........

SAVE OUR TOT.

In the Navy of the '70's

The beginning of the 'Rot',

The day they killed the 'Andrew'

Was the day they stopped the Tot.

Oh! they don't go East of Suez

Or West of Panama,

When your belly's full of 'Limers',

You can't go very far.

The legend on the 'Rum Tub',

Is still there to be seen,

But the motto looks quite silly

On the side of a 'Goffer Machine'.

You will hear the old sailors saying,

"It'll never be the same",

And when they talk of Bubbly

They don't mean French Champagne.

Did Jack flinch at Trafalgar

As he faced shot and shell?

With a Tot inside his belly,

Our 'Jack' would go through Hell.

At ten to twelve each forenoon,

Since the Andrew first began,

Jack drinks the 'Blood of Nelson'

From Jutland to Japan.

Their Lordships drink their sherry,

And cry "More Efficiency",

But what works on paper

Doesn't always work at sea.

Now 'Jack' is a humble sailor,

Who doesn't ask a lot,

After Jutland and Trafalgar

Who dares to stop his Tot?

He's always done his duty

To Country and the Throne,

And all he asks is fairness,

And to leave his Tot alone.

and the gentleman responsible for ending this great tradition............

Sir Frank Twiss, the Second Sea Lord.

Who, oddly enough, retired from the Navy the same year!

If (as a non-sailor) you think he looks familiar, that's because he became The House of Lord's "Black Rod" after retirement.

He died in 1994.

His son Roddam served several jail sentences for indecency and fraud.