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Question on US WW2 subs

I'm curious, how much food would a boat typically carry on a war patrol? Two months?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero Niner (Post 2784488)

I'm curious, how much food would a boat typically carry on a war patrol? Two months?

Depends on certain factors but judging from various patrol reports, seems they went out provisioned for sixty to ninety days if include the reserve, think equivalent of field rations...real bottom of the barrel compared to what normally would eat. Obviously, a major factor was assigned area and expected duration of patrol. A boat traveling from Pearl to the home islands or East China Sea would need to provision for a longer patrol than some of the closer areas.

On some patrols, due to being out longer than planned due to engine troubles, battle damage, or patrol extended by command, they were existing on the reserve rations by time made it back to port. At times reduce to two meals per day, in some cases one meal per day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero Niner (Post 2784488)

I'm curious, how much food would a boat typically carry on a war patrol? Two months?

Gato and Baleo class subs carried fuel and provisions for 75 day patrols for 60 to 80 men. https://www.wearethemighty.com/popul...es-was-brutal/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero Niner (Post 2784488)

I'm curious, how much food would a boat typically carry on a war patrol? Two months?

not sure exactly but probably 60-65 days max, although i have no hard facts, i suspect that very few patrols were over 60 days.
the food issue centered on space. there is a VERY limited amount of space on a submarine.
food was stored in many small places, nooks, crannies, etc.
Gato's and Balao's had refrigeration which is a distinct advantage over earlier boats and the Uboats.

there were two food prep areas, referred to as galleys.
each is the size of a very small closet, in civilian terms. possibly 4x6 feet. i have some photos from the Silversides and Cobia somewhere here.

i am sure that there are boats that stayed out on 60-day patrols. using my father's experience as an example, he sailed on six war patrols in the Kingfish, which is a Gato class boat.
the durations were, in days, 41, 50, 50, 46, 41, 51.
as you can see there is a clear trend.

there were many factors considered by a CO in determining the length of a patrol. provisions were one.
here are some others:

fuel status
battery status (WWII batteries were notoriously fickle, requiring a lot of care)
weapon status, meaning torpedoes. although some boats were assigned other duties if they expended all of their torpedoes.
boat condition, especially if the boat had incurred damage.
and last but not least, crew health. as intrepid as submariners are, there are limits to human endurance.

i hope that helps. probably more than you cared to know.

Ya left out the all important luxury icecream maker:up: and air conditioning :yeah: which was essential as the Gato and Baleos tended to heat up(100+ F.) from the shutdown engines and smelly sailors when dived all day to avoid aerial detection within 500 miles of Jap air-stations. Additionally, the dehydration effect of the AC's critically reduced moisture, preventing electrical shortages in the submerged vessel's multitudinous wiring equipment and battery systems. Bottom line though: the US fleet boats must have been luxurious compared to a Nazi Type VII or IX U-boot!:arrgh!:...As in Operation Petticoat: "They don't call 'em pig boats fer nuthin'...":doh:

US Fleetboats also ate the best out of the entire fleet and got food that was being rationed back home. They probably ate even better than the Admirals that ordered them around. As mentioned above it was only possibly because they had a freezer and AC unlike many other subs across the world.

Another question - curious to know what happens to the crew when they return to port after a patrol. I'd imagine they'd be tired, hungry for food made from fresh ingredients, lots of downtime, perhaps a bath for a couple of hours.
Who looks after the boat and sees to the replenishment, maintenance and repairs? Is there a skeleton crew that sees to this, or does an alternate crew take over?

One reason the crews liked Pearl, especially after Lockwood took over, was that they had a block rented at the Royal Hawaiian

'There was the Rest and Recuperation Annex to the Submarine Base, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel with its 425 rooms and housing capacity of 935 guests. When this entire space was not required by the Submarine Force, it was made available to aviation activities, small craft returning from advance bases, forward advance Marine units, and in some isolated cases, to battleships and cruisers.'

They would indeed, turn their boat over to a re-fit crew, which would then do all the painting, re-supplying, etc. of the boat, and turn it back over to the rested crew roughly 2 weeks later for them to do final prep work - all that if the boat did not go into the yard and require any drydocking for hull cleaning or damage repair...

Fremantle and Brisbane had similar set-ups, while the Advance bases usually had a "camp" nearby for the rest, such as Camp Dealey at Guam :salute:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero Niner (Post 2785226)

yes, what PB posted, kinda sorta. :03:

initially a boat returning from a patrol was turned over to a repair crew, which included an officer cadre which was as responsible as the boat's CO for the welfare of the boat while it was in their care.

the repair crew was responsible for the repair of battle damage as well as any items on the boat's CO's gripe list. the gripe list was typically filled with electronic equipment repairs or upgrades, electrical equipment in the galley that was acting up, engine difficulties, and the like. these activities would require two to four weeks to complete, depending on the extent of the damage and the length and complexity of the gripe list.

after the repair crew finished their tasks, they would return responsibility of the boat to the CO. All crew assigned to the boat would return to the boat for the next phase(s).

The CO would then process those of the crew who would be moving on to other assignments and, more importantly, to the new crew coming on board as replacements. New crew would consist of men of all ranks, officers, chiefs, petty officers, and non-rated. His number one task was to assign the new crew to the open billets on his boat and arrange for their training.

The CO would then take a limited but unspecified period of time to test all of the repairs and new equipment that was installed on his boat. At this time, the boat would go out on several training runs on which both the crew and the equipment would be tested.

When the boat was ready in all respects for sea, the CO would be assigned a new patrol assignment by the squadron CO. He and the squadron CO would discuss ends and means for a successful mission and then plan the final aspects of the new mission. Ammo and food would be loaded on board and a prospective date for departure would be agreed to.

When all of the planning was completed, the boat would top off fuel, lube oil, and battery charge and then shove off on their next assignment.

that's it in a nut shell.
:Kaleun_Salute:

Suggested reading for several of these questions:

Clear the Bridge! by Richard O'Kane

Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb*... book by Eugene B. Fluckey

Both have a lot to say about R&R in Pearl and in Midway.

CptChacal!:Kaleun_Salute: after a 5 year silent run!:up:

A very good book explaining Culinary procedures on Submarines through the years, including WW II...

https://maritime.org/doc/pdf/subcusine.pdf

Alan :salute: