100919-N-4997L-092 PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 19, 2010)- USS Shoup (DDG 86) steams across the Pacific Ocean. Shoup is part of the Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, which recently departed on a routinely scheduled deployment. The ship will focus on maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts to establish conditions for regional stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jerine Lee/ Released)
100919-N-4997L-092 PACIFIC OCEAN (Sept. 19, 2010)- USS Shoup (DDG 86) steams across the Pacific Ocean. Shoup is part of the Abraham Lincoln Strike Group, which recently departed on a routinely scheduled deployment. The ship will focus on maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts to establish conditions for regional stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jerine Lee/ Released) Credit: Jerine Lee

With the coming of the new year, bread and water is officially off the U.S. Navy’s menu of punishments for minor misconduct. No longer can commanders of ships confine misbehaving sailors to the brig for three days with only bread and water for rations.

Startled to learn that a vestige of the age of sail was still on the books until this week? More startling, perhaps, is the fact that this 19th century punishment was still being imposed in the 21st. In 2017, a skipper’s liberal use of the penalty led to a cruiser in the Pacific being referred to informally as the USS Bread and Water, The New York Times reported recently.

The deletion of bread and water from a ship commander’s punishment options resulted from a 2016 congressional update of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It culminated an abolition effort that began as early as in 1882, when the secretary of the Navy said that the punishment “meets with the disapprobation of the department.”

The Navy had gradually lessened its severity over the years by imposing restrictions on its use. In 1909, new regulations reduced sentences from 30 to seven days, and in 1951, the limit was dropped to three.

More recently a medical examination was required before the punishment could be imposed. And those being sanctioned in this fashion at least got as much bread and water as they wanted.

“It just seems anachronistic and stupid,” Capt. Scott Tait told the Times last month. He said he had never imposed the punishment himself while commanding two destroyers, nor had he ever heard of it being used. “People used to joke about putting guys on bread and water, but I was well into my career before I realized I was actually allowed to do that,” Tait said.

That bread and water endured so long is no doubt attributable to the Navy’s reverence for tradition, but still. England’s Royal Navy, once notoriously harsh, did away with it in 1891. And cultural attitudes long ago shifted away from spanking children, for instance.

The bread-and-water regimen has its defenders, though, and their arguments are not wholly without merit. They point out that with ships being at sea for long periods, commanders need to be able to sanction minor misconduct swiftly and on the spot. And while captains retain the power to impose sanctions such as extra duty for up to 45 days, loss of rank, half-pay for two months and restriction to the ship for up to 60 days, supporters of the more direct approach point out that some of those sanctions, such as half pay, can punish a sailor’s family, too, instead of only the offender.

Bread and water “sounds medieval, and that is sort of the point,” said Capt. Kevin Eyer, who regularly imposed the punishment before he retired 10 years ago. “Sometimes you just need to scare a kid. We want them to succeed, but you need to give them a kick in the pants.”

And just to put things in perspective, consider this: In the 19th century, bread and water was considered an enlightened alternative to flogging, which was outlawed by Congress in 1862.