Menu on the Battleship Alabama
Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 10:53 pm
This was an example weeks menu back probably in WWII. The Navy today I think eats better.
More food for thought https://www.history.navy.mil/research/l ... shore.html
This is also interesting from an RN point.........
I realise you're asking about soldiers, but I'd like to discuss what sailors of the Royal Navy ate and drank. The RN used several systems for supplying and feeding its sailors. Which one would be used depended on the size and age of the ship. The oldest capital ships, and smaller ships like destroyers and frigates, used a system called the Standard Ration and Messing Allowance. In this system, the Admiralty provided a standard ration, usually including flour, potatoes, rice, and vegetables. The crews of each ship were divided into messes, each of which was paid a Messing Allowance, with which they could purchase whatever additional supplies they required. The cooking was done by members of the mess - typically, two men would be selected to cook for the whole mess, and the duty would circulate in a rota. Basic recipes were provided, as well as advice on cooking vegetables. Recipes provided ranged from cottage pie to beef curry, but tended to centre around various dumplings and puddings. Quality depended entirely on the ability of the chosen cooks.
Corvettes, minesweepers and small craft used a very similar system, called the Victualling Allowance. These vessels were too small to have their own accounting officer, who bought and provided provisions for the ship. Instead, they were provided with a sum of money to buy provisions from the accounting officer at the base from which they sailed. They were also able to buy from non-naval sources, giving more flexibility in their diet. Cooking was still done by the members of the mess.
On the more modern ships of cruiser size and above, the General Messing System was used. Here, purchasing supplies and cooking food was far more centralised. The ship's accounting officer would purchase whatever supplies he felt necessary. They were cooked in a central galley, and the role of the messes was reduced. The chosen mess cooks simply had to carry food from the galley to where the messes ate. Generally speaking, ships did not have canteens, with the crews eating in their quarters or at their station. The General Messing System was also used on submarines and auxiliaries.
As a result of these varied systems, there was no real standardised naval diet. However, there were frequently common features. Potatoes and tinned meats tended to feature heavily. Aboard HMS Worcester in 1940, a typical day's meals for the crew looked like:
Breakfast: Tea. White bread. Butter. Marmalade
Lunch - Meat. Potatoes. Cabbage or peas. Tinned fruit or polished rice or boiled pudding.
Tea - Tea. White bread. Butter. Jam
Supper - Sausages and chips, or bacon and egg
Sunday supper - Salad and tomatoes
From 1942, dehydrated vegetables started to become available. Officers tended to eat far better than the other ranks. Page 80 of On His Majesty's Service, by the assistant US Naval attache Joseph Wellings (available here) gives the menu for the officer's mess aboard HMS Hood in 1940. It has far more options than aboard Worcester, all sounding much more attractive. Tea was the standard drinks of the Royal Navy, though coffee and cocoa did also feature. Crews would often supplement their rations with sweets and soft drinks from the ship's NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institute) canteen. Beer and rum were the preferred alcoholic drink of the British sailor. Rum was provided as part of the standard ration, while beer had to be purchased, typically from the NAAFI. The NAAFI set up its own breweries on foreign stations, and the RFA amenities ships Agamemnon and Menestheus had their own breweries aboard.
