Navy cut cigarettes! Senior service bans smoking on board vessels from January 

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Navy cut cigarettes! Senior service bans smoking on board vessels from January

  • Sailors will be banned from smoking on board Royal Navy vessels from January 
  • A complete ban on smoking in the military is expected to take place by 2022
  • Military chiefs believe smoking reduces the effectiveness of personnel  

By Darren Boyle for MailOnline

Published: | Updated:

Royal Navy sailors will be banned from smoking on board all vessels from the start of 2021. 

As well as cigarettes, all forms of tobacco products will be banned from January, including ships and submarines. 

All branches of the UK military are seeking to become smoke-free by 2022 as part of the Smoking and Tobacco Control Strategy for Defence 2017-2022.  

Smoking will be banned on all Royal Navy vessels next year ahead of a complete tobacco ban in the military, pictured HMS Queen Elizabeth on a Group Exercise in the North Sea 

In 1988, the Royal Navy ended its 200-year policy of supplying shore-based staff with cheap cigarettes, pictured HMS Diamond arriving in the River Tyne last month

In 1988, the Royal Navy ended its 200-year policy of supplying shore-based staff with cheap cigarettes, pictured HMS Diamond arriving in the River Tyne last month

British sailors celebrated watching the German fleet surrender at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys on November 21, 1918 with a cigarette

British sailors celebrated watching the German fleet surrender at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys on November 21, 1918 with a cigarette 

According to Forces.net, the plan is to ‘minismise the negative impact of smoking on operational capability’. 

The smoking ban will also apply to military sites and could even apply to visitors, civil servants and contractors. 

Sailors will be able to vape until the end of 2022 in an effort to help them quit smoking. 

The Royal Navy previously issued sailors with a cigarette ration

The Royal Navy previously issued sailors with a cigarette ration

In 1988 the Royal Navy ended its 200-year policy of supplying shore-based staff with cheap cigarettes. 

New recruits to the Royal Navy are advised to quit smoking. 

According to documents relating to recruitment: ‘In the military, smokers tend to be less physically fit and are more likely to suffer from injuries and illness.’

According to The Sun, sailors previously received 600 cigarettes a month as well as a daily rum ration. 

Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy said: ‘Sailors used to leave at 40 and be dead by 50 because they were so hard-living. 

‘If you smoke 600 cigarettes a month and drink half a bottle of rum every three days, what do you expect?’