# Submarine meals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2025, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591 "2025-04-28T07:54:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/21 "2025-04-29T02:26:41Z")
Should the bill be consistent? My Company Commander (= navy drill sergeant) was a submarine chef. He told how his boat’s CO wanted the crew fed only the best at the outset of the patrol. Problem was, the patrol long outlasted the best chow, and he eventually had to serve entire meals out of dry stores, and sleep on the deck of the locked galley to stay safe. [![](https://militaryhumorstores.com/cdn/shop/products/justteeblack_f5aa2f4e-1ee7-4cdf-990d-46cf622764b1_720x.jpg?v=1623788323) ](https://militaryhumorstores.com/cdn/shop/products/justteeblack_f5aa2f4e-1ee7-4cdf-990d-46cf622764b1_720x.jpg?v=1623788323) (Don’t ask me, I was in the amphibs. Our cooks served us dead seagulls that had washed up on the Silver Strand 😀) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/22 "2025-04-29T06:23:54Z")
Don’t know if it’s still the case, but yes, submarine food was considered the best in the Navy, as a deliberate perk. > **[Sub Grub Is Navy's Five-Star Secret](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jan-18-fi-submarine18-story.html)** > > The Pentagon goes to great depths to provide the crews of its underwater boats with the best food the military can cook up. (a second link if the first is paywalled) > **[U.S. SUBMARINERS ENJOY FINE UNDERSEA CUISINE](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2003/01/19/us-submariners-enjoy-fine-undersea-cuisine/)** > > SAN DIEGO — It’s lunchtime aboard the nuclear attack submarine Jefferson City and the tired crew — some bearing fresh grease stains on their work overalls — fills the tiny d… ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/23 "2025-04-29T08:13:30Z")
From _At War with the Army_: > In the Navy they get steak, caviar and whipped cream cake > They have fancy cooks who know what cookin’ means > In the Army we get mess, and it really is a mess > Oh, the Navy gets the gravy, but the Army gets the beans [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/aNkLTAd68KY/maxresdefault.jpg "Jerry Lewis - Beans (At War With The Army) (1950)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNkLTAd68KY) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/24 "2025-04-29T16:04:01Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dQ_L2_q260k/maxresdefault.jpg "MASH-Hawkeye Makes French Toast") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ_L2_q260k&t=157s) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/25 "2025-04-29T16:22:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Since the last update, of Office, the word replacement thing has turned itself back on, and it is the stupidest damn thing Methinks your protest is to draw attention from your accidental disclosure of the Magnetodyn pRopulsIon (MRI) drive, a top shecret shyshtem. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/26 "2025-04-29T16:42:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Kept trying to replace gavel, in a post about courtroom procedure, with gravel. Did you grovel on the gravel before the judge hit his gavel. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/27 "2025-04-29T18:31:00Z")
Sounds like about time for a beetle puddle paddle battle. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/28 "2025-04-29T18:52:08Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > the judge hit his gavel I don’t “hit” me gavel, I bang me gavel! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gQpgliX1pRE/hqdefault.jpg "Gay Judges - Monty Python") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQpgliX1pRE) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/29 "2025-05-01T12:37:52Z")
By the way, for those that do not know, ballistic missile subs are pretty far from Das Boot. According to the book, in exchange for his twentieth-century money, the officer in question “…sat in a private dining room with linen on the tables and cloth napkins and fancy silverware. A mess steward served him his plate and asked him if he wanted salad or soup.” Enlisted men took their meals cafeteria-style in the spacious crew’s mess. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/30 "2025-05-01T13:03:02Z")
There are some videos out there that show a lot of what it’s like to cook and eat on a submarine. This is a fun one, Pizza Night on the sub. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bPJUVKizh90/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Make Pizza on a Submarine - Smarter Every Day 246") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJUVKizh90) ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/31 "2025-05-01T13:13:25Z")
Technically everyone in the Navy pays for their meals, by law: > U.S. Code Title 37 requires that the Secretary of Defense “shall, by regulation, establish rates for meals sold at messes to officers, civilians, and enlisted members." Enlisted rates have their mess pay automatically deducted, officers receive an actual mess bill to be paid monthly. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/32 "2025-05-01T14:13:37Z")
The only submarine I have ever set foot inside was the USS Pampanito museum display in San Francisco. That is a lot more like a Bas Boot boat - although twice the displacement of the U-96 depicted in the movie, the cramped space is not much different. The two boats were nearly contemporaneous. One thing that stuck in my mind (other than the pipe cots directly underneath the torpedoes for the sailors to sleep in) was a poster describing the personal storage locker. Not exactly large, but each sailor got one, and was allowed it to store personal belongings. Sailors would cut a deal with the cook, and would store additional food which would be used to improve the served meals. Sailors who bought into the scheme shared in the improved fare. It was apparently very popular. The display had a large poster with a picture of the cook in the galley noting that the submarine service provided the best food possible, and everyone aboard ate the same. (I visited in 1989, so a lot may have changed.) Something of a jump to the extensive larder space available in the boat visited by Destin in the above video. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/33 "2025-05-01T15:28:35Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > By the way, for those that do not know, ballistic missile subs are pretty far from Das Boot. I toured an active boomer in Groton, way back in the day. It was huge. it had suspended ceilings. (I bumped my head touring a fast attack sub the same day). And one thing it had, that stuck with me to this day, was a soft-serve ice cream machine in the enlisted mess (which was as good sized cafeteria). I wonder if the officers had access. “Excuse me, seaman, I need to inspect the quality of the ice cream. Only the best for you.” ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/34 "2025-05-01T16:20:17Z")
We had the soft serve on the Carriers also. I think a lot of surface ships had them, but that I can’t be sure of. The carriers had the advantage of an actual butcher shop and better yet, bake shop. But the massive disadvantage of cooking for thousands in the galleys. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/35 "2025-05-02T01:15:25Z")
Thank you, that was a very fun video. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/36 "2025-05-02T01:21:36Z")
I’ll add my thanks, @Horatius . I saw that video a few years ago, and wanted to post it to this thread, but I could find it. “It was on YouTube” was the best I could recall. Glad you could find it, and thanks—I enjoyed watching it again. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/37 "2025-05-02T01:28:16Z")
I assume the military does not bother counting whether a person has actually dined or not, and charges them as if they have eaten all their meals at the mess? If so, then that would be a strong disincentive to eating anywhere other than the mess. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/38 "2025-05-02T12:18:05Z")
For the crew, I believe that’s correct. For officers, when underway, we got charged for all meals. When in port, we were charged for the meals we actually ate. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/39 "2025-05-02T13:04:07Z")
abcdefghij’s response is correct. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591/40 "2025-05-02T19:49:02Z")
For shoreside installations of USAF & Army it’s simple. You pay for your meals just like in a restaurant. They ring up what you ordered and you sign a chit. Later you get a monthly bill to pay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/submarine-meals/1017591.md?page=3)