https://www.oldsaltblog.com/2025/05/how-ice-cream-replaced-booze-in-the-us-navy-2/ | Old Salt Blog a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea , hosted by nautical novelist Rick Spilman Old Salt Blog Home Menu | Skip to primary content Skip to secondary content * Home * About the Blog * Seastories + Newbooks + Reviews + Critiques * Lore of the Sea + Current + Ships + Language + Sea Songs + Rigging * History * Galleries * Old Salt Press * Contact Search for: [ ] Search Home-Lore of the Sea-How Ice Cream Replaced Booze in the US Navy Post navigation - Tragic Launching of HMS Albion, 1898, Caught on Film Mexican Navy Sail Training Ship ARM Cuauhtemoc Hits Brooklyn Bridge -- 2 Crew Dead, 22 Injured - How Ice Cream Replaced Booze in the US Navy Posted on May 17, 2025 by Rick SpilmanApril 19, 2025 [navyicecream]General Order 99 One hundred and eleven years ago on July 1, 1914, Secretary of the US Navy Josephus Daniels issued General Order 99, banning "the use or introduction for drinking purposes of alcoholic liquors on board any naval vessel, or within any navy yard or station." The US Navy had ended the rum ration in 1862 and imposed progressively more stringent restrictions on what alcohol sailors could have on shipboard. General Order 99 ended even the serving of alcohol in the wardroom and the captain's cabin. An updated repost. Prohibition and Ice Cream Six years later, in 1920, the entire country followed the Navy's example. With the ratification of the 18th Amendment, the United States banned the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The thirteen year period known as Prohibition led to the growth of criminal gangs and the proliferation of "speakeasies," illegal drinking establishments. Prohibition also had a surprising and unexpected result -- the growth in the popularity of ice cream. During Prohibition, many American breweries, including Yuengling and Anheuser-Busch, switched from brewing beer to making soda and ice cream. Ice cream parlors became popular places to socialize for both young and old. By the end of the decade, Americans were consuming more than a million gallons of ice cream per day--and, crucially, associating it with the comfort and diversion formerly assigned to alcohol. World War II and the Navy's Ice Cream Barge With the end of Prohibition and the outbreak of World War II, the still dry US Navy was provided with ice cream on almost every ship. In the Pacific theater of war, the US Navy even operated a large concrete ice cream barge. The Navy spent $1 million dollars retrofitting a barge they got from the Army to allow it to produce 10 US gallons of ice cream every seven minutes, or approximately 500 US gal per shift, and could store 2,000 US gallons of the finished product. Smaller barges, known as ice cream ships, were built to distribute the ice cream throughout the Western Pacific. Ice cream was important for morale. In 1942, the U.S.S. Lexington was slowly sinking from a Japanese torpedo attack, before the crew abandoned ship, they broke into the freezer and ate all the ice cream . Survivors describe scooping ice cream into their helmets and licking them clean before lowering themselves into the Pacific. Ice Cream as a Reward In addition to the daily rum ration, when the captain of a naval sailing vessel wanted to reward the crew when things went exceptionally well, he might order a tot for all hands. The US Navy developed its own reward system. As there was no alcohol to be had, they used ice cream. Ice cream became a reward for meritorious service. Specifically, on carriers, a reward system was set up for every pilot rescued by destroyers, escorts, submarines, or any other craft that brought a downed pilot back to the ship. During World War II; ten, twenty, or even thirty gallons of ice cream might be the payoff for a rescued pilot. Tom Kocurko spent World War II in the Navy and found out about the ice cream tradition while serving on a destroyer escort. "We'd get 10 gallons of ice cream every time we picked up a pilot, which was a real treat. So we started joking, 'Let's shoot one down."' Sometimes ice cream may be better than even a tot of rum. Posted in Lore of the Sea Tagged General Order 99, ice cream, Ice Cream Barge, Prohibition, rescued pilots, reward, US Navy, world war II permalink Post navigation - Tragic Launching of HMS Albion, 1898, Caught on Film Mexican Navy Sail Training Ship ARM Cuauhtemoc Hits Brooklyn Bridge -- 2 Crew Dead, 22 Injured - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments How Ice Cream Replaced Booze in the US Navy -- 1 Comment 1. [e2a8]Chris Roche on May 18, 2025 at 4:18 pm said: Cyril Tawney the submariner folk singer had this collected at sea. There`a buzz going around the harbour that the Yanks are going to sea, With a bottle of cocacola and a damn` great ice cream cone, They are damn` fine boys in harbour but oh! by Christ at sea; Tune after `The halls of Montezuma. This must have followe the abolition. Chris R Leave a Reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [ ] Name * [ ] Email * [ ] Website [ ] [Post Comment] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Recent Comments * mike on Mad as a Lighthouse Keeper -- Not the Solitude, but the Mercury * mike on Mad as a Lighthouse Keeper -- Not the Solitude, but the Mercury * Craig Northacker on Update: Retired Four-Star Navy Adm. Robert P. 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