what eat sailor in a patrol?

[denny927]

a question is in my mind for several days:how survived subcrew in a long months of hard patrol?I say: each of us need eat and drink, but in a submarine, far from friendly coast, and in the middle of the ocean how hard was?

the space in a sub i believe was very small, the storage was reserved for the ammo, see torpedos and guns, for sleeping, see beds, and so on...

after a 2 hours of silent hunter 5(i want my 2 hours back, very bad game, imho of course), i can see the cook and a very small kitchen, and a few salamis(lol my origins....very good in a pizza) here and there, but for a 60-80 men in the real life was very hard i think...hence the crew was very slim in general terms...
how did the typical sailor menu in a ww2?

[EricW]

The Navy generally had excellent food, and the subs got the best the Navy had to offer. It was supposed to make up for the otherwise difficult living conditions.

[donna52522]

I'm not sure about the U-Boats, but the US sub crews were the best fed in the navy. I believe the fleet boats (or most classes of them) had a refrigerated compartment on the lower deck. I am not sure about the location, possibly connected to the pump room under the control room (between the forward and aft battery compartments). The officers even had a pantry next to the ward room.

There was usually plenty of fresh water (when not contaminated). Even enough for limited showers and a washing machine for laundry. There was always coffee available.

I have schematics of the Gato, Balao, and Tench class boats but never seen, or looked for, a refrigerated compartment. Would take me awhile to dig them up.

Canned goods were stowed in every nook and cranny throughout the boat. Fresh fruit didn't last long though.

Usually it was the fuel situation that decided the length of the patrol.

On a side note, whenever one of my crew gets killed in action, my galley stewards would announce " Fresh meat is back on the menu boys" :har:

[CCIP]

You might find this page on uboat.net useful :yep:

http://uboat.net/men/foodstuffs.htm

[Urge]

I served on a WWII diesel boat (USS Carp) in the 60s. The refer is located beneath the crews mess in the after battery compartment. We ate very well when I was on subs. Every friday in port we had all you can eat fresh lobster and we had filet mignon once a week. If you didn't like what the cook was making you could cook up anything you wanted. They took out the ice cream machine but the refer had many 5 gal. tubs of ice cream and you could help yourself anytime.

Urge

[Stealhead]

The Germans had it much worse the VII boats did not even have refrigeration and the XI only had a very limited amount. Habitability wise as well the US Navy subs where much nicer than other boats that might partly be because the boats designed in the pre war days had a focus on being comfortable (they needed to be pleasing to a non draft sailors who might leave the Navy for greener pastures) and that carried over to some extent to the war time deigned boats.I read somewhere that the Tambor/Gar class where considered by most submariners to be the most comfortable during the war years.Most Us boats also had air conditioning but don't think of your modern home or car A/C it was not that cozy they where actually used to lower condensation inside the hull which lowered damage to electrical components and lowed rust though it would improve the comfort of a boat without A/C which was something that most other Navies subs lacked even most US Navy surface lacked A/C but they really did not need it either.

[Reinhard Hardegen]

Taken from “U-Boat Combat Missions” by Lawrence Paterson

Planning the menu

Menus for use on operational voyages were carefully worked out before the boat was loaded to insure the correct supplies were taken aboard. Care was taken not only to provide the balance diet necessary for the crew’s health, but also to allow some variety in the food – for mealtimes were a highlight of the day for the men who had to live together in cramped confinement for weeks at time. For example, a Type IXC U-boat catering a crew of 55 men for 12 weeks at sea would take onboard 27,740lb [12,583kg] of food and drink. Included within this were:
494lb [224kg] fresh and cooked meats (recommended stored in refrigerator),
238lb [108kg] sausages,
4,807lb [2,180.5kg] canned or preserved meat,
334lb [151kg] preserved fish,
3,858lb [1,750kg] fresh potatoes (recommended stored in bow and stern rooms, or in crates with the zentrale),
3,428lb [1,555kg] other vegetables (recommended stored in bow room and refrigerator),
917lb [416kg] (13 boxes) of lemons (recommended stored in bow room),
661lb [300kg] fresh fruit,
595lb [270kg] (10 boxes) of other fresh eggs (recommended stored in bow and stern rooms),
1005lb [456kg] fresh bread (recommended stored in bow, stern, and electric rooms),
1,455lb [660kg] (300 cans) of canned bread,
110lb [50kg] butter,
110lb [50kg] fresh cheese,
143lb [65kg] canned cheese,
132lb [60kg] coffee and ersatz coffee,
7lb [3kg] tea,
1,728lb [784kg] (28 boxes) of milk.

These supplies had been calculated alongside a menu for the cook to work to. Again, an example from that provided for a Type IXC U-boat, U518, this time planning for six weeks at sea:
All breakfasts – coffee, cocoa, milk soup with crackers and crispbread, jam, honey, butter or eggs on demand.

Day 1:
Midday meal – Soup, mashed potatoes, liver, fresh fruit.
Evening meal – Spicy blood sausage, smoked meat, bread, butter, coffee.

Day 7:
Midday meal – Fried sausage, potatoes, gravy, cabbage, fresh fruit.
Evening meal – Herring, salad, cooked beef and pork sausage (Jagdwurst), bread butter, tea.


Day 14:
Midday meal – Soup, spinach with eggs, potatoes, stewed fruit.
Evening meal – Ham, radishes, bread, butter, and rosehip juice.

Day 21:
Midday meal – Soup, macaroni with ham, sauce, pudding with juice.
Evening meal – Noodle soup with beef, chilled ham, bread, butter, and apple juice.

Day 28:
Midday meal – Potato salad, scrambled eggs, mixed strews fruit.
Evening meal – Macaroni with ham, tomato sauce, rosehip juice.

Day 35:
Midday meal – Soup, onion beef (Zwiebelfleisch), potatoes, gravy, vegetables, pudding with juice.
Evening meal – Ham, hard-boiled eggs, bread, butter, cocoa.

Day 42:
Midday meal – Bean soup with beef and pork.
Evening meal – Free composition according to available provisions (last day of voyage)

[denny927]

thanks guys to all, very very useful information here.I can imagine if the sub was in the middle of sea, a great fresh fish barbecue on the bridge sometime it was probably happen...so, a navy sailor eat like a king.....but sadly, no way for a "little sweet moment"

anyway, after all this food, I get very hungry....maybe a visit in the kitchen now, is a good thing:D

[Platapus]

Also consider the size of the galley. :o:o Those cooks were good!