Coast Guard History
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Service abolish the rum ration?
April 1, 1835 as authorized in the "Instructions to Officers in the United States' Revenue Cutter Service," October 3, 1834, page 7.
Following a tradition established by the Royal Navy of Great Britain both the Revenue Cutter Service and the Navy established a daily rum ration for their enlisted personnel. Nevertheless, to "encourage habits of temperance" the Treasury Department abolished the ration and substituted a cash payment of three cents per day as a substitute for the value of the "spirits" previously issued.
Temperance was always on the minds of the officials at the Treasury Department. Until it was abolished, the ration consisted of one "gill" per day for officers and one-half a gill per man for the crew. Alexander Hamilton, the founder of the Service, stated "that the article of rum. . .be as sparingly supplied as possible." [King, George Washington's Coast Guard, p. 94.]