Feeding the Navy
By Patrick McSherry
Please Visit our Home Page to learn more about the Spanish
American War
Click here for recipes for Navy food of the Spanish American War
A mess on the OLYMPIA sits down for a meal. Note the ropes supporting the table, and
the man at left dining off a trunk of some sort. The men have hung their hats on the hooks that
will later be used to support their hammocks (Photo: Library of Congress)
General:
This article will address how the crews of the ships of the U.S. Navy were fed.
The article:
Most people assume that the naval crews of the Spanish American War
period were simply provided with food by the U.S. government and that
this food was prepared by a cadre of professional navy cooks. This was
not true in the Spanish American War period or before. However, after
the Spanish American War, the system was changed and modernized.
Feeding the Enlisted Men:
During the Spanish American War, ships’ crews were divided into
“messes” of about twenty men each. The Navy allotted thirty cents
per day to feed each man. A certain portion of that money, usually
twenty-five per cent, was paid cash to each mess, with the remainder
carried on the books of the mess. Each mess appointed a treasurer or
“caterer” whose job it was to handle the money. The funds carried on
the books were used to purchase basic supplies from the paymaster’s
storerooms – salt beef or salt pork, potatoes, onions, etc. The cash
was used to purchase supplemental items while in port from stores or
from “bum boats” – boats which would come out to the ship and offer
things for sale to the crewmen, such as fresh produce, eggs, various
spices or condiments.
If a mess had a good “caterer,” the funds would be used wisely to
supplement the somewhat boring – and sometimes unappetizing - shipboard
fare. If the caterer was not wise, the money could be spent too
rapidly, and would not last until the next allotment of funds was made
available the next month. This could simply result in the mess having
to eat only the more monotonous supplies available from the storeroom,
or in worse cases, the mess may not even have the fund to purchase from
the storeroom. In this case the mess was fed on coffee and hardtack
until funds were again available. On occasion, crews would not choose
well, and man selected as caterer had an affinity for alcohol, Such a
person may spend the cash portion of the mess’ monetary allotment on
whiskey from a bum boat…
The food supplies purchased from the paymaster’s storerooms or while in
port would have to be prepared. Again, this was the responsibility of
the mess. The mess would appoint a cook, known as a “berth deck
slusher,” who would be required to cook the meals in the ship’s
kitchen, known as the galley, under the watchful eyes of a navy cook.
The navy cook did not prepare a menu, as the supplies from each mess
would vary. The quality of the food depended on the capabilities of the
berth deck slusher. Most men did not enter the service with experience
cooking for twenty people, so there was usually a learning curve.
Unlike the army, the navy had not created a cookbook for the use of the
cooks. That would not happen until 1902, when the navy went to a mess
system where the mess was not managed by its members, and a staff of
cooks and bakers were provided.
Many of the recipes were simply handed down by word of mouth or
demonstration and were given interesting names such as “Plum
duff,”
“lob dominion,” “lobscouse,” "sea pie," “skillagallee,” "slumgullion," and “burgoo,” etc. Plum
duff was traditional aboard ships of many nations, including the U.S.
and Great Britain. The “duff” in the name supposedly came from a
mispronunciation of “dough.” “Dough” is spelled like “rough” and must
pronounced the same, hence “duff.”
At times the messes had unique opportunities to supplement their
larders. In one case a naval vessel encountered a schooner hauling
watermelons. The ship stopped to allow the messes to purchase
watermelons, and large quantities were purchased. The same naval vessel
encountered a fishing boat and the messes purchased almost the entire
catch. During the war, Spanish ships hauling cattle or pigs were
captured and their cargo supplemented the ship’s larder with fresh
meat, a welcome switch.
As a point of reference on the sheer amount of food supplies that a
navy vessel would require, the following is a list of foodstuffs
consumed aboard from the Armored Cruiser Brooklyn to feed its 470
enlisted crewmen for one month. The list does not include supplies
purchased independently by the various messes:
“This crew in one month consumed 6,000 pounds of bread, 35 pounds of
yeast, 3,000 pounds of sugar, 300 pints of condensed milk, 600 pounds
of coffee, and 100 pounds of tea, I,000 pounds of butter, 200 pounds of
lard, 8,000 pounds of fresh beef, 2,000 pounds of fresh fish, I,800
pounds of salt pork, I,200 pounds of salt beef, 800 pounds of liver,
6oo pounds of ham, 480 pounds of bacon, 600 pounds of pork chops, 300
pounds of sausages, 400 pounds of salt mackerel, 500 pigs' feet, 800
pounds of tinned meats, 240 pounds of bologna, 240 pounds of cheese,
800 pounds of rice, 300 pounds of macaroni, 300 gallons of beans, 400
bushels of potatoes, 12 bushels of onions, 20 bushels of turnips, 600
heads of cabbage, I20 quarts of clams, 480 quarts of catsup, 12 pints
of flavors, I00 pounds of dried fruit, 300 pounds of salt, 30 pounds of
pepper, 24 pounds of curry powder, 300 pounds of pickles, 3o gallons of
vinegar, 30 gallons of syrup, and to make one omelette for the immense
crew for one morning's breakfast, I,500 eggs.”
The tables were stored on racks or by ropes over head on the berth deck. When
meals were rady to be served, the tables were lowered. After the meals,
the tables were replaced in the racks or raised back up. At night, the
crews' hammocks were slung from hooks on the overhead. It has been said
that the men ate under where they slept and slept under where they ate.
Feeding the Officers:
For officers the situation was quite different. The government did not
purchase food for the officers. That was the officer’s personal cost
and responsibility. Officers would contract with a catering company,
some of which had worldwide operations. These companies would provide
food directly to the ship and to the officers’ mess. There were
stewards whose job was to prepare and serve the food.
The different systems for the officers and enlisted men created some
friction. The enlisted men would see their limited options or suffer a
bit in a period where supplies would run low. When this happened, they
may note that the officers were still living quite well, making the
enlisted men indignant. Often the enlisted men did not understand that
the officers had to provide their own food, which would still be
delivered even if the government-supplied basics did not.
Alternatively, if an officer was well-liked or respected by the crew,
should the officer’s food run low, a mess may decide to provide some of
their larder with him. If an officer was not well-liked, times of want
could be difficult.
Bibliography:
Alden, Cmdr. John D., USN (Ret.), American
Steel Navy , (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press,
1972), 277, 289.
Brady, Cyrus Townsend, Under Tops'ls and Tents. (New
York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1901) 122-123.
Graham, George Edward, Schley and Santiago. (Chicago: W.
B.
Conkey Co., 1902), 62-63, 67-68.
Young, Louis Stanley, The Cruise of the U. S. Flagship
OLYMPIA.
(Cruise Book), 85.
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