In the case of the Royal Navy, the tradition was "Rum, Buggery and the Lash".
Re: “It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition”
Zhanghe, they said, built not only the greatest of tradition ever, more to that, he was said to have established for himself a maritime legacy that dwarfs even the greatest navy in modern record and it all started with but a dream. He was said to have commanded an armada of [three thousand boats]. So how hard is it for an old hand to scrap the rust off and brush away the dusts and start anew all over again? An old saying “necessity is the mother of all creations” and creation, or creativity works magics!
Admittedly, in days of yore the supply of spirits was far too high, but it was always "cut". Even then it was mildly preferable and healthier to drinking the onboard water.
"The detestable practice of buggery" was specifically included as a capital offence under the "Articles of war", under which the Royal Navy was regulated, first written about 1650 and regularly reaffirmed for at least the next two centuries. You packed fudge, you swung for it. No exceptions.
Discipline in Nelson's Royal navy was savage by modern day standards, but it was scarcely worse than the contemporary civilian penal code, and it was heavily regulated. All punishments had to be entered in the log and justified later to higher authorities. Captains who were too fond of floggings would find themselves in trouble. A study of the logs makes it quite clear that most sailors were never flogged. It was actually uncommon. Usually the same old names crop up in the books time after time - the hard cases and the troublemakers.