The information for this story is from the original log of the United
States Ship Constitution, which on August 23, 1779, set sail from Boston
with 475 officers and men.
On board they had 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 746 cannon shot, 11,600
lbs of black powder and 79,000 gallons of rum. They had permission to
harass and destroy English shipping.
Making Jamaica on October 6, she took on 825 lbs. of flour and 68,300
gallons of rum Then she headed for the Azores.
Arriving there on November 12, she provisioned with 550 lbs of beef and
54,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On November 18, she set sail for
England.
In the ensuing days she defeated five British Men of War and captured
and scuttled 12 English Merchant Men, salvaging only the rum.
By January 27, her powder and shot were exhuasted. Unarmed, she made a
night raid up the Firth of Clibe.The landing party captured a whiskey
distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of whiskey by dawn. Then she
headed for home.
The United States Constitution arrived in Boston in February 1780 with
no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no whiskey and 48,600 gallons of
stagnant water.
Not including the rum salvaged from captured ships, that's 241,000
gallons of booze drank by 475 men in less than six months.
Conservatively, that breaks down to at least 590 gallons per man, or
over 96 gallons per man per month. We've had a "little" problem with
alcohol in the United States for a long time!