On the subject of the Navy no longer singing...

From the personal experience of having been there, a large part of it is the increased size of the crews, and the change in the type of work involved.

I worked with a Senior Chief who would regale us (when bribed with enough drinks ashore) with stories of his recent stay on board a minesweeper... These are tiny little ships, with only 6-10 people on board. When any job needed to be done, the entire crew - captain included - would turn to and finish the job. He mentioned several times that they would often sing traditional shanties to help the work along.

As to the type of work, once you're off of the smaller vessels, there really isn't anything that requires a song, or even asks for it. After all, it seems slightly silly to sing 'South Australia' while pushing a button and watching the anchor haul itself in. 'S matter of fact, I ws at sea for 7 months straight, and because of my duties on board, the closest I ever came to a traditional 'sailor's duty' was mopping our berthing area out...

M