Alcoholic drinks were banned in the U.S. Navy in 1914. Ever since, the sailors have been trying to get around this, officially and unofficially. Sailors quickly began setting up secret stills to brew small quantities of a potent moonshine drink. But by World War II the navy began carrying beer and allowing the sailors, after many months at sea, to be taken a few hundred meters from the ship in one of the lifeboats and drink two cans of beer. The charade of drinking the beer on the small boats (so no alcohol was being consumed "on the ship") has since been dropped and regulations established for when beer may be consumed. Currently, for every 45 days at sea without a port call, there is a "beer day", in which every member of the crew gets two cans or bottles of beer. That means aircraft carriers are shipping out with over a thousand cases of beer on board, all closely guarded by armed marines.