Australia’s newest warship HMAS Sydney welcomes tailored gin

A sip of a different sort, known to devastate even the most stoic of enemies, will commission alongside Australia’s newest warship.

HMAS Sydney V Commissioning Gin will be made with Sydney botanicals chosen by the commissioning crew. Picture: Nikki To

As the Royal Australian Navy prepares to commission its newest battleship the NUSHIP Sydney in May, a sip of a different sort, known to devastate even the most stoic of enemies, will also receive commission.

As most defence units, companies, squadrons and carriers go, memorabilia is common, especially among new arrivals. Most see camping mugs, unit patches, badges, caps and the occasional tie and its accompanying tie pin to hold it in place.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds picked up the keys to NUSHIP Sydney in Adelaide on friday. Picture: Brad Fleet

While NUSHIP Sydney will receive all of the above celebrating its arrival in the Royal Australian Navy in May, it’ll also welcome something a little more significant, some memorabilia that carries some history a little more familiar to sailors and seamen world over.

The navy has partnered with Sydney inner-city hip distillery Archie Rose, bringing ship fans a choice of tailored whisky or gin.

Gin has long had a place on navy ships. In fact a number of today’s popular cocktails and bar staples such as the gin and tonic were born in such places.

From mother’s milk to mother’s ruin, the distilled alcoholic beverage was once fed to British soldiers during the Thirty Years’ War to calm their nerves before battle.

Archie Rose’s bar and distillery in Rosebery, Sydney. Picture: Supplied

For more than 200 years, gin commissiong kits were given to newly commissioned ships.

It was the recommendation of the UK government to carry lemon and lime juice on board naval ships to fight scurvy which gave birth to the popular cocktail known as the gimlet, two parts gin, one part lime juice. The drink was said to be a suggested way to enjoy a daily dose of lime juice by Royal Navy doctor RAdm Sir Thomas Desmond Gimlette. Today it’s a signature number at many bars.

When malaria weakened British forces in India, it was playful soldiers who found mixing the quinine powder they were issued to fight disease tasted far better when mixed with a little soda and sugar. What came next was the gin and tonic.

Navy Strength, once called 100º UK proof spirit, also has a nautical past depending who you ask. Rumour has it if the gin kept below deck spilled onto gunpowder which in turn failed to light, the gin wasn’t strong enough. Today any gin over 57% ABV is known as navy strength.

The French 75, another gin cocktail made with champagne, lemon juice and sugar, also has a slight military past, named after the Canon de 75 modèle 1897, a 75mm French artillery field gun.

Given its long connection to the navy it seems only fitting a gin should be commissioned alongside Australia’s ‘most advanced warship to date’.