The document describes the daily food rations and meal preparation aboard British Navy ships in the 18th century. Groups of men formed "messes" to share and cook their rations. One mess member would be blindfolded each day to distribute portions of meat in an attempt to be fair. Fresh food was scarce and biscuits were weeviled and maggot-filled. Meals consisted mainly of salt beef, pork, peas and oatmeal, with occasional fresh vegetables. Livestock was also carried on long voyages.

1. “ The Mess” aboard victory Groups of up to 8 Men got together to eat and drink their daily rations. They would take it in turns to be ‘the cook of the Mess’ their task:- to collect the rations daily from the Purser on the Orlop Deck, prepare it for cooking in the Galley collect it and then issue the rations of meat. To ensure fairness one ‘trusted’ member would be blindfold, a portion of meat would be carved and placed on a plate, and he would be asked “who’s meat is this?” not knowing if the ‘meat’ was lean, fat or gristle, he would name a member of the Mess and it would be that Man’s ration for that Day. Obviously, this was open to abuse, a change in the tone of voice or a subtle rap of a spoon could indicate a good or bad portion of meat. Invariably, the junior members of the mess would receive the inferior portions of meat.For carrying out this onerous task the ‘cook of the Mess’ received an extra ration of Rum. It was normally carried out on a two weekly rota. Note the ‘square platters’ hence the term ‘3 square Meals’ a Day The Mess Table

2. Weekly Food Allowance – per man 4 pounds of Salt Beef – 2 pounds Salt Pork 2 pints of Pease – 3 Pints of Oatmeal 6 ounces of Butter – 12 ounces of Cheese A daily allowance of 1 pound ships biscuit A Gallon of Beer or some other alcohol Fresh Vegetables, when available. Flour, Suet and Dried Fruit once a week for making ‘duffs’, when possible Nelson would ensure his Men had fresh fruit, purchased from his own pocket. “ Livestock in the form of Sheep, Pigs, Cattle, Goats and Chickens would be carried aboard ship”

3. Biscuit was produced by the Royal Bakeries attached to each Royal Dockyard, such as Royal Clarence Yard in Gosport,each was stamped with the M.O.D arrow. They were made from a mixture of wheat and pea flour, unscrupulous Contractors were known to add bone dust to the mix, to increase the yield. Although rock hard, they were quite edible when fresh, but once they had been stored at sea for a period of time, they were usually soft and filled with weevils and maggots. “ We live on biscuit which makes your throat cold in eating it owing to the maggots which are very cold when you eat them, like calvesfoot jelly” So wrote a young Midshipman of the time Ships Biscuits

5. Meat Dishes Lobscouse – A mixture of Salt Meat cut small mixed with broken biscuits, potatoes, onions and any available spices. Skilly – A poor broth made with Oatmeal mixed with the water in which the Salt meat had been boiled. Sea Sausages – Cut a quantity of fine Pork, Fat and Lean together, cut it small, not minced. Season with Salt, Pepper and Spices. Stuff middling Hogs Guts or Beef Guts with the mixture. Store in casks filled with melted Hogs Lard Salt Pork – Served raw with cooked Harricot Beans Pickled Pork – After being washed and scraped clean, put with clean water and boil til the rhind feels tender. Sprinkle liberally with vinegar and eat with boiled Greens or Pease Pudding

6. Vegetables Dogsbody – Soak Split Peas for an hour or two in water then boil in a cloth for an hour, mixed well with Salt , Pepper and Butter, boil for another hour. Cabbage and Greens would be preserved in Brine, (sour krout). Then washed and served with vinegar. It was said that the vast amount of vinegar used by the men eventually ruined their sense of taste. There is a story, that one Captains Wife decided to treat the Men to a ‘proper’ meal. It was rejected as being ‘without taste’ Burgoo – A form of porridge, Pinhead Oatmeal, usually rendered inedible by undercooking, they either fed it to the pigs or refused to draw it, collecting a cash sum in lieu at the end of the voyage. It was made edible in 1805 with the inclusion of Sugar or Salt

7. All of the food for over 800 crew would be cooked in “The Galley” Alexander Brodie invented the ‘Brodie Stove’ in 1781 this was a great step forward, it was now possible to Boil, Bake, Roast and Spit Roast all at the same time. It was also possible to pass the steam produced by boiling through a ‘condenser’ to produce clean water, about 10 litres a day. This was normally offered to the Doctor for the sick. 50 tons of coal was carried in the Hold to fuel the Galley Stove

8. Typical content of the Main Hold Cubic Capacity 51,500 Cubic feet (approx) Water - 380 tons (85120 gallons) Beef - 50 tons - Pork - 45 tons Peas - 45 tons - Butter - 2 tons Beer - 50 tons (11200 gallons) Shot - 120 tons, stored around the Main Mast. Forward of the main hold was stored 35 Tons of Gunpowder In an attempt to fumigate the area, large pans of hot coals, sprinkled with gunpowder and vinegar were lowered into the hold. Obviously ‘rats’ were present and when ‘times were hard’ the men would trap the rats and sell them to the young Midshipmen for food

9. The Purser was a civilian who had the ‘franchise’ to supply victuals to the crew. He deposited a large sum of money with the Admiralty, this gave him the right to ‘trade’ with the men. He supplied all the food, drink, tobacco and clothing onboard He invariably short changed the men, whereas a normal pound weighs 16 ounces, a ‘Pursers Pound’ was known to be as low as 10 ounces, the difference was his ‘profit margin’ . Pursers Issue Room note the cheese racks