Toasts in the Royal Navy

The Royal Navy has a long tradition of drinking toasts at meals.  And there are a surprising number of toasts.

The toasts are typically given by the youngest officer present at the mess dinner.  The ceremonies begins with the “Loyal Toast” to the Sovereign, which is followed by a traditional toast for each day of the week.  Traditionally, some of these toasts include spoken and unspoken words:

In June 2013 the Tuesday and Saturday toasts were officially changed under orders from the Second Sea Lord, Vice-Admiral David Steel, to reflect the fact that women have been at sea in the Royal Navy for nearly two decades.  Officially the Tuesday toast is now "Our Sailors" and the Saturday toast is "Our Families".  The traditional toasts are, however, still sometimes heard.

While most of these toasts are self-explanatory, "a bloody war or a sickly season" refers to the desire and likelihood of being promoted when many people die: during war or from sickness.

The Navy traditionally makes all toasts, including the “Loyal Toast” seated, due to the evident danger of low overheads on wooden sailing ships.

A couple of centuries ago, officers with Jacobite sympathies reputedly would make the “Loyal Toast” above a bowl of water, to indicate they were toasting the “king over the water.”

Addendum: Toasts in the British Army. Toasts in the British Army are somewhat different from those in the Royal Navy. To begin with, they are made standing, beginning with the “Loyal Toast”.  They follow this with toasts to any foreign dignitaries present, in order of rank, and then to other guests, likewise in order of rank.  After that there’s a toast to “Absent Friends”.  In addition, the mess may also raise a toast to commemorate some notable deed in its history.

Taking them Younger and Younger, 1914-1918

Save for Britain, all the European nations that went to war in 1914 had long traditions of compulsory military service.  Every young man knew that if he met various physical, mental, and moral standards, in the autumn of the year that he turned 20 he would be called up to serve for a number of years on active duty, and then still more years in reserve status, as we noted in CIC No. 478.

This neat arrangement did not survive the opening weeks of the Great War.  As soon as the fighting began in 1914 all the armies found themselves needing more manpower.  So conscripts began to be called earlier and earlier, as can be seen in the experience of the two most important armies, the German and the French.

The German Army

The French Army

Key: "Class" is year of birth; "Year" is that in which these men were scheduled for induction, generally at 19 or 20; "Called" is the month the Class was actually inducted; "Premature," shows how early the Class was called; and "Age", that of the recruits at their induction.

It's interesting to note that after the first few months of the war, the Germans began calling men up before their prescribed induction time earlier and younger than French, despite the fact that the war generally went better for Germany than for France. It's also surprising that, although Germany called up the Class of 1900 in the Spring of 1918 so as to have the men ready for front line service some time in the Autumn, it was not until mid-1918 that the French Army announced that the Class of 1900 would be called in October (two years early) to be available for operations in the Spring of 1919. In any case, as the war was going well by October, that call was postponed.