The Fleet Air Arm Association

Rum has a long tradition with Britain’s Royal Navy, and with navies that grew out of it, including the Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and other commonwealth navies. The U.S. Navy also had a rum tradition, a practice it inherited from the Royal Navy, although this was phased out in the mid-19th century.The tradition of naval rum began with the Royal Navy’s West Indies Squadron in Jamaica in 1655. By 1731, it had spread to the rest of the British Fleet.