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Galley Location

12K views 39 replies 20 participants last post by  P.Arnold 
#1 ·
Gentlemen,
I have a question regarding the ship's galley(s) on a cargo/passenger vessel prior to 1970. (No super cruise ships)
Looking at ship and deck plans, it is rare to see where the galleys are located. If they are, they are quite a considerable distance, even decks away from the dining rooms and messes.
On land, hotel and restaurant designs avoid this issue, so It seems odd for a very important service available 24/7, regardless of the number of passengers and crew, that marine architects neglected to design both the galleys and dining facilities closer to each other and make them more efficiently to each other for obvious food quality, presentation, speed of service etc.
Your input would be appreciated,
Regards,
P.N.
 
#4 ·
I sailed on several general cargo ships/passenger cargo ships in the 60/70s. in each case the galley was in the main accommodation block on the main deck amidships On one of those ships (king Arthur) the officers saloon was further forward in an accommodation block separated from the other accommodation by no. 3 hatch. The food was transferred in kits from the galley to the saloon. Deck and engine room crew food was also distributed in a similar fashion to poop accommodation by peggies as there accommodation was separated by hatches 4 & 5.
I also sailed on about 20 bulk carriers/tankers every one of those had the accommodation aft with the galley on the main deck aft. the exception was 3 Shell tankers which all had a centre castle where the deck officers slept and to eat they had to proceed via a flying bridge aft.
 
#6 ·
Correct, all 'A' class 'P' class and 'H' class had the galley on the main deck midships on the port side abaft the saloon and fwd of the sailor's messroom
There was also a galley on the poop which served the Chinese engine room ratings whose accomodation was aft.
 
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#11 ·
Of the nearly 1000 ships I boarded, i found that in ships where the sole superstructure was aft, the galley was aft in the ss, positioned to serve equally the officer mess and crew mess. On ships where the sole ss was midship, the same was usually true, but when there was a second ss at the stern, it could be in either one (tankers it was aft). Some Norwegian ships had the galley below deck on the starboard side.
 
#12 · (Edited)
It was standard on coal fired ships/galley’s, to have the galley handy to the coal needed for the stoves, near the engine room cross bunker hatches. Until the 40’s these were usually just abaft No.3 hatch on the standard ‘three island’ cargo ships of the day.


Collecting the ‘kits’ from the galley’s lee side door one lunchtime I was making my way aft to our ‘mess’, when a big lump of water took charge. On picking myself up the first thought was to look around for my false tooth.
It was only later I realised the two sets of ‘kits’ containing soup, gravy, the salad, main course and pudding for three other hungry young men had gone too. Reporting this loss to the senior apprentice he rattled my remaining teeth then marched me back to the galley, but the cook was adamant, he had ‘wiped-down’, there was nothing he could/would do until dinner that evening. I then got another ‘seven bells’ knocked out of me.
We were always hungry so it was good policy to keep-in with the cook. The firemen and trimmers were always thoughtful, giving us any extra food or dry stores, they had.
 
#15 ·
I recall Ellerman Line vessels built in the 50s and 60s had three galleys. Other than the big four (which had about 120 pax?) a few carried 12 pax. However, come the early 70s and after the sale of the big 4 none of the vessels were regularly carrying any.

The officers were accommodated amidships and the crew aft in the poop.

There was a midships galley for officers and petty officers (quartermasters and carpenter) and this was generally at main deck level at the aft end of the accommodation close to the messrooms?.

The deck and engine crew had their own galleys in the poop, deck crew on the starboard side and engine crew on the port side side - both in the housing on the top of the poop. Both had there own bhandari (y) or a cook in a lascar ship's crew.

I remember the aft galleys on my first ship (City of Wellington) were coal fired (remember taking coal down aft in London a couple of times). Not sure about the powering of the midships galley?

All in all by modern standards the catering departments were huge, Purser, assnt purser, chief steward, cooks / bhandaris (3 or 4), officer messmen / cabin stewards, Captains Steward, quartermasters messman, bhandari assistants / crew steward aft etc.... and so it went on. By todays standard a full ships complement worth.

One ship, City of Capetown had a total complement of about 80, while others, such as the City of Wellington were probably in the 40/50s?
 
#17 ·
My memory may be at fault it is a long time ago,but the Harrison Liberty ship I sailed on in 1956 had a coal fired galley. The galley was midships just after the funnel on the main deck. The engine was an oil burner but I have a memory of sacks of coal being carted around in a wheel barrow.I am happy to stand corrected.
 
#20 ·
On BP's tankers, built immediately after the war, the 8, 12, & 16,000 dwt classes had the the galley located on the poop deck, as far aft as possible (for obvious reasons). The officers' lived midships & this was where their saloon was located. All meals had to be hand carried from the galley, along the flying bridge to the saloon. There was a small pantry adjacent to this saloon where the the food could be re-heated/dried out. It was only when BP's first super tanker was built in 1951 that the officers' dining saloon was located adjacent to the galley, port side on the poop.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Irish Guards

Ach aye, that was just wee Billy’s joke, he was forever getting burns, especially in bad weather, trying to reach over the galley stoves as he was so short.


One of his party pieces related to the chief and 2nd engineers having a problem in the flooded steering flat on the Santona. She was on the northern Grand Banks. They were up to their waist in freezing water, both with speech impediments, that got worse with the cold and very much worse when a bottle of the hard stuff was passed down to warm them up. It became wee Billy’s party piece afterwards, imitating two stutterers trying to talk to each other repacking the rudder gland in arctic conditions. Two good sports, enjoying the craic, no offense taken.
 
#24 ·
saudi

Aahhhh now that was progress - the benefits of progress the Arkas!

But going back to galleys I seem to remember we used to get a sandwich box for the night watch (had done away with night stewards in my time). How they mastered those curly sandwiches with sardine paste!
 
#26 ·
The US Flag ships I sailed had a night cook/baker who worked midnight - 0800. He was like a short order cook who made anything one wanted for breakfast, when those on the 12-4 got off @ 0400. He prepared 0800 breakfast for the whole crew, served by the day shift; along with baking fresh breads and rolls.

Greg Hayden
 
#28 ·
(Thumb)
I wish we had one of them Greg. All the ships I was in, the galley was in lockdown throughout the night. The cook would leave a tray of cold cuts and salad out in the sailors mess which was all gone within half an hour.
I once visited an American ship in Kobe, it was called Golden Bear, and I was stunned by the amount of grub available during the night, plus endless coffee and a Coca Cola machine. Amazing!
Regards
Pat(Thumb)
 
#31 ·
Were the ships built by the same yard? or belonging to same company

I have found that with sailing with different companies but the ships built in the same yard the accommodation layout rarely changes. Most of the ships I sailed on had the galley on the centre line at aft end of accommodation, with deck crews and P O's messrooms adjacent (across the alleyway) on the starboard side and engineroom crew on port side

Food for thought
 
#38 · (Edited)
The galley and the Saloon were aft aboard the ss Regent Pembroke (63000 dwt). Going for meals could be exciting for those of us who dwelt amidships in heavy weather.
Water resources Waterway Liquid Watercraft Monochrome photography


Photo is copyright of Malcolm Cranfield
 
#39 ·
The galley and the Saloon were aft aboard the ss Regent Pembroke (63000 day). Going for meals could be exciting for those of us[/QUOTE]
The galley and the Saloon were aft aboard the ss Regent Pembroke (63000 day). Going for meals could be exciting for those of us who dwelt amidships in heavy weather.
View attachment 684399

Photo is copyright of Malcolm Cranfield
Regent Royal, galley aft saloon midships.
Peter
 
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