On Sun, Apr 1, 2018 at 6:22 PM, Kurt Feltenberger <xxxxxx@thepaw.org> wrote:
A friend (and fellow list member, IIRC), sent me the following link last with with a question wondering what the provisioning of a major fleet combatant would be like.

https://www.forgotteninfographics.com/new-blog/provisioning-a-warship

My thoughts would be that the meals would be pre-made, much like a "frozen dinner" or a modern MRE and would be heated in either a microwave, convection oven, or through some other means.  I don't see a galley and mess hall being incorporated into a ship's design when you look solely at the numbers and volume requirement for ship's systems - it would be wasted space that could be better used for fuel, armor, or some other "teeth".


A concern would be the length of deployments. Things like MREs get very old quickly. The Army, at least, always tried to get use hot meals even on deployment. A galley and mess is not wasted spacce. it is vital to morale. Fresh food, and a variety of it, and eatting in commons increases morale and bonding between shipmates. The galley staff would probably double as damage control, freeing others to fight the ship.

Think about it. You're stuck on a Gionetti-class light cruiser. You see the same bulkheads every day for weeks. Your last liberty call was eight jumps ago. Fresh food and bullshitting with crewmates may be the highlight of your day! 

Also, the galley can be repurposed as a classroom, assembly point, overflow sickbay, or any num,ber of uses.



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