The Galley

Here, men in the galley prepared the meals for the rest of the crew.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

USS CASSIN YOUNG

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Inside the galley of the USS Cassin Young, men worked around the clock to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner for as many as 300 men. When they weren't making meals, the galley made bread, doughnuts, and other baked goods to keep the ship fed and running all through the night. Once a meal was ready, men had to carry the food by hand up the deck and down two steep ladders to the "chow line." In rough seas, this was no easy task.

When there were fresh supplies and the weather was fair, you might catch the smell of freshly baked bread, roast turkey, candied yams, and even pie. If the weather was rough, supplies went low, or circumstances called for extended duties at battle stations, meals could be reduced to nothing more than cold bologna sandwiches or beans.