Water Capacity and Galley Needs : Naval History Too

[Byrdman]

Came across some interesting naval history when searching for water capacity needs..... Enjoy :cocktail :beer

The USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) as a combat vessel carried 48,600 gallons of fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried no evaporators.

However, let it be noted that according to her log, "On July 27, 1798, the USS Constitution sailed from Boston with a full complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water, 7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gallons of rum."

Her mission: "To destroy and harass English shipping." Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826 pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.

Then she headed for the Azores, arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine.

On 18 November, she set sail for England. In the ensuing days she defeated five British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchantmen, salvaging only the rum aboard each.

By 26 January, her powder and shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed she made a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Her landing party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.

The USS Constitution arrived in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no cannon shot, no food, no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky and 38,600 gallons of stagnant water.

Interesting... No wonder we have less than 30 gallon of fresh water onboard.... :smiled

 

[MOOSE]

I've often thought about filling the water tank with rum!!! LOL
Al

 

[B~C]

OK, that does it, I'm taking the water tank out and converting that space into a powder bunker

 

[Socrateur]

That works out to 530.5 gallons per man for the 208 day period at sea, and 2.55 gallons consumed per man per day. Yikes.

 

[jimandlaurie]

Me thinks that they definitely had a an extended happy hour cruise . It shows that if there was a spirited :beer :cocktail , prize , they knew how do go after it and get it and learned how to "conserve" the precious water.
Arrgh Matey!!! pour me a Wee Dram :smilep

 

[Sawdust]

And because I descend from a long line of old salts I have learned to appreciate single malt - without water!! :wink:

Dusty

 

[Knotty C]

That works out to 530.5 gallons per man for the 208 day period at sea, and 2.55 gallons consumed per man per day. Yikes.

With that much consumption there had to be some spillage. Spillage=alcohol abuse!! :shock:

Don

 

[catdogcat]

So how many gallons of spirits did each man consume per day? I suck at math.

 

[gljjr]

So they drank 2 1/2 gallons of alchohol a day and a little more than a cup of water a day (probably used for cooking and evaporation!). And we wonder why there were so many "Accidents" at sea? Sheesh!

 

[New Hampshire Guy]

Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy for WWI, was the guy who banned alcohol from Navy ships, and was immortalized by the slang remark "a cup of Joe" because coffee is now the strongest thing served aboard...

 

[B~C]

was he a distant cousin of Grogephus Danials?

 

[drjohn71a]

Can you imagine being the poor guy who had to stand in front of all those sailors and tell them no more booze? JOhn

 

[Sneaks]

Can you imagine being the poor guy who had to stand in front of all those sailors and tell them no more booze? JOhn

Apparently the ones who told them "no more booze" were called "Defeated and captured."


Don

 

[thataway]

This makes a nice story, but.....
Unfortunately this entire "history" is a hoax. The Constitution did not sail to England in 1798--in fact that year was spent patroling the Coast of the US from Cape Henry to Straits of Florida. Later she did go into the Caribbean. This was during the Quasi French war.

Her first European assignment was in 1803 when she patrolled the Med.

It is difficult to find out where this myth orignated but some of the facts from her log are:

*While it is true that CONSTITUTION cruised the West Indies during this time frame, it was to protect US shipping from FRENCH privateers, not the British.

*CONSTITUTION was moored in Boston Massachusetts from 10 November through 28 December 1798, which negates the trip overseas.

*Of the vessels engaged with CONSTITUTION during 1799, none of them were British, all were French.

*CONSTITUTION was in port at Prince Rupert's Bay, Dominica between 24 January through 01 February 1799.

One should also note, that the consumption of alchohol on board ship was carefully measured and monitored. Sailors were regulated to rations of rum a day, equaling about a pint total. The rum was guarded by marines and doled out my the ship's Master at Arms.

So....enjoy your rum, but figure on a minimum of 2 liters of water a day per person!