Curious about the diet onboard a WW2 U-Boat!

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by TigerShark808

595 lbs. fresh eggs <--Thats alot of eggs!

it is indeed.

if my calculations are correct... about 4700 eggs

considering an average chicken egg weighs about 2.0 ounces, 8 or 9 chicken eggs would equate to one pound (considering slightly variable sizes). thus it would take about 4,700 eggs to add up to the 595 lbs aboard Jims U-boat upon departure from lorient.

according to my research... eggs stored in an unrefrigerated "cool room" should be consumed before the passage of 10-12 days depending on how cool the room is kept. (we can assume a uboat in the north atlantic would be a cool place)

so, Jims flatulent crew would have to eat an enormous amount of eggs during the first 10-12 (approx) days of their cruise.

56 crewmen (approx for an IX boat) would have to eat 83 eggs each over a period of 12 days.

not quite 7 eggs per day.

assuming you served each man 3 scrambled eggs or fried eggs for breakfast for 12 days running you would burn through nearly 2,000 eggs leaving you with about 2,700 eggs remaining.

assuming that an additional 2 eggs per crewman were hard boiled for snacking or as a lunch side etc - you could quickly burn through another 1,300 eggs leaving you with about 1,400 eggs remaining.

if you account for various recipes calling for eggs as part of the ingredients (cakes, crepes, french toast etc), its feasible that you could burn up the remaining 1,400 eggs fairly quickly.

EDIT: its known that fresh items had to be consumed pretty early on in the patrol... i would guess that these U-boat men would eat meals similar to what "mama" would make at home - at least for the first week or two.

[Paul Riley]

Interesting read.

However,the stench after all those consumed eggs on board must have been unbearable,I mean,after 2 eggs for my breakfast each morning my farts are noxious to say the least,from all the albumen content

[Jimbuna]

Is it true that eggs helped prepare the lookouts vision for a night watch?

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

Interesting read.

However,the stench after all those consumed eggs on board must have been unbearable,I mean,after 2 eggs for my breakfast each morning my farts are noxious to say the least,from all the albumen content

They boiled the eggs to help bind them up before they ate the long life stores. 47 men with one toilet for a 200 day patrol? You do the math

On the IX's there were two toilets however one was almost always used as extra storage space so until the stores were consumed one lave was it!

[Ford Prefect]

All this talk of eggs remind's me of spike milligan's war memoirs, he mentions how the army diet in the north african desert lead from bouts of diarrhoea to being bound up completely, the latter usually being caused by eggs. A Uboat full of constipated sailors couldn't have been a happy place.....

[Paul Riley]

Right then,lets do some calculations shall we?
The average man I would say has about 2 s##ts a day,give or take.47 men s##t###g eggy s##ts at that rate gives us 94 eggy s##ts.For a 200 day patrol that gives us 18.800 eggy s##ts! This is for your 6 mth patrol
The average UBoat stays on patrol for i'd say,between 4-8 wks.
2x47x56 (using the 8wk option) =5264 eggy s##ts.
As most of the journey is spent in conditions that doesnt have exactly the best air quality you can imagine the smell inside that toilet! :rotfl:

Don't forget to wear your escape gear when in that toilet! , and be mindful of skin burns and uncontrollable acute vomiting!

[Laufen zum Ziel]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

Right then,lets do some calculations shall we?
The average man I would say has about 2 s##ts a day,give or take.47 men s##t###g eggy s##ts at that rate gives us 94 eggy s##ts.For a 200 day patrol that gives us 18.800 eggy s##ts! This is for your 6 mth patrol
The average UBoat stays on patrol for i'd say,between 4-8 wks.
2x47x56 (using the 8wk option) =5264 eggy s##ts.
As most of the journey is spent in conditions that doesnt have exactly the best air quality you can imagine the smell inside that toilet! :rotfl:

Don't forget to wear your escape gear when in that toilet! , and be mindful of skin burns and uncontrollable acute vomiting!

Way more then I needed to know:rotfl:

[Bent Periscope]

I wonder if they had Beano? If not, they would need clothes pins or get that snorkel working quickly.

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

Right then,lets do some calculations shall we?
The average man I would say has about 2 s##ts a day,give or take.47 men s##t###g eggy s##ts at that rate gives us 94 eggy s##ts.For a 200 day patrol that gives us 18.800 eggy s##ts! This is for your 6 mth patrol
The average UBoat stays on patrol for i'd say,between 4-8 wks.
2x47x56 (using the 8wk option) =5264 eggy s##ts.
As most of the journey is spent in conditions that doesnt have exactly the best air quality you can imagine the smell inside that toilet! :rotfl:

Don't forget to wear your escape gear when in that toilet! , and be mindful of skin burns and uncontrollable acute vomiting!

BLOW BALLAST..... we need fresh air!!!!!

how about canned chili and jalapenos for lunch and beans & rice for dinner for the first 2 weeks?

savory

The first paragraph of a u-boat novel... "The air hung thick like a large brown curtain of gag inducing acrid smoke. Mixed with the humid environment one could literally move and manipulate the foggy stench with bare hands, it was thick like you would think of clay... you could actually sculpt the stinky foggy mist into little shapes. As each man had produced his own unique flatulent odor, the smells mixed like a bastardized creation forming an odor so unique, so tremendous and so overpowering that it was capable of making eye contact with you... and you didnt dare make eye contact with this vaporous creation from hell"

[Mittelwaechter]

Water glass (Na2SiO3) is the solution for preserving fresh eggs up to six or more months. You keep moisture in the egg and air out. My grandmother used this method when grandpa got "payed" with several dozen eggs from a farmer friend.

[Paul Riley]

The effort we put into an indepth analysis on...eggs,never fails to astound me

[OrangeYoshi]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

The first paragraph of a u-boat novel... "The air hung thick like a large brown curtain of gag inducing acrid smoke. Mixed with the humid environment one could literally move and manipulate the foggy stench with bare hands, it was thick like you would think of clay... you could actually sculpt the stinky foggy mist into little shapes. As each man had produced his own unique flatulent odor, the smells mixed like a bastardized creation forming an odor so unique, so tremendous and so overpowering that it was capable of making eye contact with you... and you didnt dare make eye contact with this vaporous creation from hell"

Is that true, or is it using some creative licensing?

[GoldenRivet]

creative licensing at its finest

[Paul Riley]

Originally Posted by OrangeYoshi

Is that true, or is it using some creative licensing?

? ! !!
Full marks mate!

@GR
I had to laugh at the "curtain of gag" ,man I literally nearly pissed myself laughing at my computer reading that.

[nikbear]

Originally Posted by Paul Riley

Right then,lets do some calculations shall we?
The average man I would say has about 2 s##ts a day,give or take.47 men s##t###g eggy s##ts at that rate gives us 94 eggy s##ts.For a 200 day patrol that gives us 18.800 eggy s##ts! This is for your 6 mth patrol
The average UBoat stays on patrol for i'd say,between 4-8 wks.
2x47x56 (using the 8wk option) =5264 eggy s##ts.
As most of the journey is spent in conditions that doesnt have exactly the best air quality you can imagine the smell inside that toilet! :rotfl:

Don't forget to wear your escape gear when in that toilet! , and be mindful of skin burns and uncontrollable acute vomiting!

Paul,that has got to be the worst maths lesson I've ever had:rotfl:
While trying to keep my tea down,I will add that in calm sea's away from air patrol's you could use the outside Lav,which was a little seat that hooked on to the railings of the U-boat which the crewman sat on,while hanging onto a length of rope attached to the top of the turm.I'm sure I don't need to describe what you did sitting on the seat with your arse in the air Better than using the 'Heads' though