Rum, Sodomy, Prayers, and the Lash Revisited

''Naval tradition? Naval tradition? Monstrous. Nothing but rum, sodomy, prayers and the lash.'' This quotation, from Winston Churchill, is frequently dismissed as apocryphal or a jest, but, interestingly, all four of the areas of naval life singled out in it were ones that were subject to major reform initiatives while Churchill was in charge of the Royal Navy between October 1911 and May 1915. Du...