"The Royal Navy on the Home Front, 1914-1918" Officers in the wardroom in a battleship drinking to the King. This toast is given every evening after dinner in British warships and is drunk sitting, by permission of William IV. The reason of the permission was that on one occasion, when the King was dining in the wardroom, he rose to return thanks after the toast and bumped his head, owing to the narrow space between decks in those days.