WW II Submarine Galley Research Questions

Intro to research notes
Reference Dimensions
Missing Pots, Pans and other Smallwares
Missing Equipment
Contents of Shelves, Spices, Condiments, Food, Cans, etc.
Reference Photos and Drawings from WW II submarines
Completed Galley Projects

This is a page to share questions during our research.

Why this can be hard:
We have very few photos of the galley (kitchen) and crew's mess (dinning room) from fleet submarines during the war, and none from Pampanito. We are restoring Pampanito to the summer of 1945 when she was last used as an active submarine. Most of the other museum submarines had active service after the war and with that service updates and changes. This means that we often cannot just look at the other submarines for examples of what is missing from Pampanito. We have been lucky to find drawings on microfilm for the galley, but even the microfilm often has two or more versions of the same drawing with significant differences. Even when there is only one drawing the craftsmen had pretty wide latitude to make changes from the drawings if it eased production. The crew of the boat could request and receive small changes during refits. The drawings are often vague and rely on normal shipyard practice and tradition.

Reference Dimensions:

The custom built pots were designed fit the Edison Type B range/oven built used on the fleet boats.
The top of the range when the fiddles are installed forward and aft is 19" wide x 17-1/8" deep. Without the fiddles the hotplates are 19-1/2" wide by 18" deep. The side pieces that hold the fiddles are about 2-5/8" taller than the hotplates.
The oven is about 17 wide (15-1/2" clear), height is 14" tall, 18" deep (17-1/2" clear). The oven shelves are 16-3/4" x 16-3/4".
Between the two ranges is a hotplate 9-1/2" wide x 18" deep. It has about 17" inches deep with the grease cover currently installed. There is about 11-1/2" between the fiddles of the two ranges above the hotplate.
The space for the dish drying rack in the scullery is 22" x 26-1/4"
The scullery sink is 21 3/4" x 18" x 10 1/2", the stems on the valves are 12 point splines a little less than 1/2"
The center of the hinge on the kettle holders is approx. 8.5" above the hotplate, the mounting holes are approx. 9" above the hotplate. It extends 3-3/8" from the bulkhead.
Electronic copy of the Navy Cookbook 1945

Missing Pots, Pans, and other Smallwares:

• x4 Baking/Roasting pans with folding handles sized to fit in oven. (approx. 15-1/2" w x 17-1/2" deep x 3" tall, or to clear all 13" x 17"?)
• x2 Square head pans. Sized to fit on the top of range between fiddles. (Approx. 18-1/2" wide x 16-7/8" deep x 3" tall, but they may actually be square on top 16-7/8" it is hard to tell from the photos.) The pans are normally measured from the top which is wider than the bottom. I left 1/8" all around, is this enough?
• x2 Rectangular kettles, approx. 9" wide x 16-5/8" deep x 10" tall. With a lip at top, and two fold out handles about 1.5" from the top (opened). They also had custom covers. Sized so two can fit on one range with fiddles. These could be as wide at 9-1/4" and still fit a lip on each top and a fiddle down the center.
USS Cod has one with square sides that is 8" wide x 17-1/4" deep x 8" tall welded rectangular, this would not fit with the rear fiddle in place, Cod is an E.B. boat, the photos of Portsmouth boats we have show curved, sanitary corners. The photos of the other E.B. boats make the pots look bigger.
We received the donation of a real submarine kettle from Nash, but one designed for a slightly wider (more modern) range. 10-1/4 x 17-7/8" x 12" tall with an 1/8" lip at top. It fits on the full range without a rear fiddle and takes up more than half the width. It is also made of heavy aluminum. It may have been a production prototype because it came without handles, or trade markings and has some stamping defects. We are really thankful to have had this pot donated because it almost never fails to elicit a question about its shape from visitors.
• Square kettles. We were fortunate to receive the donation of a 6 quart unit from Nash/American Metal. 7-7/8" square x 9-3/4" tall with 3/16" lip. The handle is centered approx. 1-3/4" from top, or 7-3/4" from bottom. We know these were used on the submarines after the war, but we do not know if they were aboard during the war. There are no photos that show the smaller square kettles from WW II, but they make as much sense as big kettles and we do not have a lot of photos. USS Torsk has one 8.5" x 8.5" x 10-5/8" tall, 9 quart from Nash. However, their range is larger and from after WW II.
• x9 round pie pans. We have 10" pans that fit nicely in the shelves, but the lip is about 1/4" too wide for the entrance to the rack so the pans need to be tilted to be inserted. This works, but it would not be easy for the cook. So we are looking for either 10" pans with a really thin lip, 9.5" pans or 9" pans with a wide lip. The photos below make me think 9" with a very wide lip. These should fit in a 9.75" inside diameter pie pan shelf, and with a small enough lip to fit through the front of the pie rack.
• Round pots, mixing bowls, colander?
• x6 Tureens, Approx. size 14" x 10-3/4" oval, length with handle 16-1/2". Height of 6 stacked about 11-3/4" (see the bench storage drawing.)
• x12 Serving platters. We are not sure what size, a guess without the lip is 12" x 9" x 1-1/2". They stack (see the bench storage drawing.)
• x4 Extra long triple strapped bread pans (three pans 4-1/2" wide x 16-1/4" long x 3-5/8" tall strapped together, or welded into a 15-5/8" wide by 16 1/4" deep unit as shown in the drawing.) In May 2012 we received the donation of a strapped bread pan from Bundy, Chicago Metallic that is very close to the outer dimensions in the drawing below (Model 44365, 15-3/4" wide x 16-1/2" deep x 4" tall). Note that this is a pullman pan (straight sides) instead of the tapered sides. The ships allocation was for five of these, but the pullman style take up a lot of room. The modern tapered side pans we found were all smaller than the drawing. At least one of the historic photos the pans look more like pullman than tapered pans. We also found a reference to replacement of the pan in the drawing with stock bread pan #64P485. Maybe this is pullman style?
• What knives, and where did they safely store them (in a drawer?). Note the silverware currently in the drawers should be in the baskets in the bench seats.

Missing Equipment:

• 240 VDC Deep Fryer from WW II. For now we are need a basket for the deep fryer we currently have. We are seeking help to size the basket correctly for the dimensions of the fat container 4-3/4" height x 6" wide x 11-3/4" long. However, this is the size of the container and does not account for the heating element and the free space needed for oil circulation. There is about 1" from the back of the fat container to the front of the heating element in the rear, and about 3/4" from the bottom of the fat container to the top of the heating elements on the bottom. The side racks are about 2-1/4" above the sides of the housing, and maybe 3-7/8" above the top of the fat container (bottom of foam compartment). There also should be top cover to protect the oil when not in use. We should have a 240 VDC from the 1940s version, not 110 VAC from the 1950s version of the fryer on the boat. It is the correct size and virtually the same as the 1940s versions.
• We should have a 250 VDC instead of 115 VAC version of the Hobart A120 mixer. We would really like to find a mixing beater, and bread hook for the A120. We are also missing, 9" Vegetable slicer tubular hoper with feed stick (we have the regular hopper with 3/16" shredder rotor), 5/64" shredder rotor, french fry rotor. No. 12 chopper attachment, 1/8" chopper plate, 3/16" chopper plate, 1/4" chopper plate, 3/8" chopper plate, knives 7996. There are photos of the mixer and the collection of wrong size accessories we have below.
• Filter rigging for the current coffee urn (Jacketed Kettle). Outside diameter is somewhere between 8-3/4" and 10-3/4" (shelf at top of urn). Probably between 1-1/4" and 2" tall. We also need to measure the missing top handle. This urn came off of a minesweeper without the details, Elisha Webb & Co. We are still looking for one of the types that were used on fleet boats during the war. Esp. a Blickman Type E, 4 or 5 gallon which is our best guess of what was aboard Pampanito.
• Tricolator pot that has 250 VDC power, water and small drain piping from the galley to the crew's mess that have been cut off. We had no idea what kind of Tricolator this is, we have not seen another boat with a second coffee pot in the crew's mess. There is a second plug marked percolator 110 VDC in crew's mess well. Did they really have three different coffee devices? None of the other boats or photos show more than the big urn. These power plugs are a mystery.
• Condiment racks in crew's mess. These block the view when seated and were mostly removed after the war, but we had them during the war and they held more than condiments. They also had lights wired underneath them, we still have the circuits.
• Where was the emergency flashlight box for the compartment mounted? CO2 Fire extinguisher? Pencil sharpener?
• Was there a shelf above the sink in the scullery as shown in the drawings? There are not enough mounting holes.
• Storage baskets for the mess benches (dishes, cups, etc). We have drawings, see below.
• Did we have a coffee cup carrier (to distribute full cups around the boat.)
• The coffee urn guards and the strap for the coffee urn. We have drawings. Did we have the separator between the coffee urn and mixer?
• Splash guard by the cutting boards? Did we have this?
• Extra fiddles for the galley range. They must have had at least center pieces.
• There are no mounting holes for a towel bar above the galley sink as in the drawings and other boat photos.
• The toaster was in crew's mess, not with the cooks in galley. It probably sat on one of the missing condiment racks. The power is still in crews mess.
• Sliding door between galley and crew's mess need to be replaced.
• Safety chains to block passage when in dry stores need to be replaced.
• Plug and cable for battery tester is missing.
• Mark 1 Deck Clock with shock mount is missing in the crews mess.
• Something was mounted in the overhead of crews mess and is gone. Maybe emergency ration boxes? Or CO2 absorbent canisters?
• Fix the mounting of the bench seat and their latches. Two of these are engine room benches without the foldout extra seat of a mess bench. Five of the benches are missing the hasps needed to lock them.
• Door to after battery is missing.
• What was mounted to the clip under the athwartship shelve in the galley?
• The can opener is in the correct place, and is roughly the same type, but it has a different mounting pattern than the lines than are left from the original. There are a bunch of these scattered about the boat and warehouse that need to be checked if they would be a closer fit.
• The water fountain came off a Navy ship, but it is not the right style
• At least one of the crew's mess tables (under ammunition scuttle) was designed to fold up out of the way. The others are missing the quick removal hardware.

Contents of Shelves, Spices, Condiments, Food, Cans, etc.

What spices, shortening and other quick access items should be in the shelves vs. below deck in dry stores? How were they labeled? What size packages? What is supplied in the #10 cans with openings on top in the photos? The one with a spoon probably was lard or vegetable oil for frying.

Items I found looking at the 1943 navy cookbook, they probably did not have all of these, and note that the cookbook is not submarine specific:
allspice, apricot sirop, baking powder, bay leaves, black pepper, bullion cubes, catsup, cayenne pepper, celery flakes, celery salt, chili pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cream of tarter, food coloring in diff. colors, gelatin plain and flavored, ginger, horse radish powder?, lemon juice powder, malt, maple flavor, molasses, mustard powder, mustard seed, nutmeg, onion flakes, paprika, peach sirop, powdered cocoa, powdered garlic, sage, saltpeter, soy sauce, tabasco, thyme, turmeric, vanilla extract, vinegar, wild cherry extract, worcestershire sauce
What type of containers where used for powdered eggs, powdered milk, dry ice cream mix, corn syrup, dry beans, peas, brown sugar, tapioca, dehydrated potato, dehydrated cabbage, dehydrated carrots, and dried yeast? Bulk items like salt, sugar, flower, oats, corn meal, rice where stored in the tilt out bulk bins. But at least some arrived in stitched paper sacks. FYI, salt was always in the smaller bin by the range. BB MA has #10 cans of cornstarch from the war.
Brown glass bottles, metal tins, brown and yellow paper boxes. Of course #10 cans of everything where stored everywhere and none of the frozen or refrigerated foods are included here.
• Notes on the #10 cans. Even if shipped with normal paper labels, I am guessing they would have been removed and the contents marked with small labels or paint or stamping. Normal labels would come off in the humid storage and clog the bilge pumps. One retired veteran of Independent Can Co. suggested that they would have soldered side seams and that they were probably not beaded (convex bent rings to add strength to the can). He also thought that a lot would have been painted olive drab or grey. Another suggested single friction rings on the cans with removable tops (for example the lard cans). The cornstarch cans from BB MA were varnished and stamped on top with the contents. A number #10 can is 6-1/8" diameter x 7" tall (602 by 700 in modern can nomenclature), or 109.43 oz., http://www.cancentral.com/standard.cfm
• Vinegar jars 3-1/2" diameter, about 7.5" tall with spout. (See the bench storage arrangements.)
Where did they store used grease (paint style cans?)

What handy place where the handless coffee mugs stored (the dishes where mostly in racks that went into the crew's mess benches.) Maybe one of the carriers was left in the scullery?

Reference Photos and Drawings:

Any other photos or drawings, esp. if they were from Portsmouth built boats would help. Stories from cooks and stewards would help. Authentic menus from the war would help. Commissary lists and boat allocation lists would help.

None of these photos were taken aboard USS Pampanito during the war, but they were all taken aboard fleet type submarines. We are trying to create an authentic restoration and would love to find more photos like these.
Note that some of the photos below are from Electric Boat built subs, we were Portsmouth built and there were significant differences. Some are undated and could be post-war.

photo of galley
From USS Bowfin

photo of galley
From USS Bowfin

photo of galley
USS Nautilus 13 Aug 1942 (NARA 66000)

photo of galley
USS Nautilus 13 Aug 1942 (NARA 66001)

photo of galley
From unknown boat, B.R. Smith SC1/c, 14 Aug 1945 (NARA 336167).

photo of galley
From an unknown boat, Edwin Graf SC2/c, 14 Aug 1945 (NARA 336176).

photo of galley
From USS Wahoo (NARA 35735).

photo of galley
Mystery photo of galley that was once displayed on Pampanito.

photo of galley
From USS Cod (war time).

photo of galley
1959 aboard USS Sarda, it is small, but a corner of the drawing sized garbage pail can be seen. Copyright Owen Carlson used with permission.

photo of galley
Undated photo of USS Rock.

photo of galley
Undated post-war photo of USS Sea Owl.

photo of galley
Undated photo in an unknown boat. NARA 80-GK-16020

photo of galley
Undated photo in an unknown boat. NARA 16050

photo of galley
Unknown data and location. We need to check NARA 16062

photo of galley
1945 photo in an unknown boat. NARA 80-G-49481-1

photo
nara80-g-19400-galley.jpg

photo
nara80-g-32888-milk-dolphin.jpg

photo
nara80-g-36847-haddo1943.jpg

photo
nara80-g-41781-galley-cuttlefish.jpg

photo
nara80-g-47613-galley-parche.jpg

photo
nara80-g-286636-crewsmess-parche.jpg

photo
nara80-g-286646-crewsmess-parche-.jpg

drawing
Drawing of missing cup basket.

drawing
Drawing of missing plate basket.

photo
Lionfish-plateholder-DSCN1657.jpg

photo
Lionfish-plateholder-DSCN1661.jpg

photo
Lionfish-plateholder-DSCN1662.jpg

drawing
Drawing of missing cutlery basket.

drawing
Drawing of missing salt & pepper rack.

drawing
Plan view drawing of missing tureen.

drawing
Profile of stacked missing platters.

photo inside coffee urn
Photo of the empty coffee urn in need of filter, etc.

bread hooks and mixing paddles
Wrong size (A200) bread hooks, beaters (paddle) and whip for Hobart mixer. We need accessories for a Hobart A120 mixer. We are open for trading.

mixer in galley
Hobart A120 mixer. This one is 120 VAC, we need 250 VDC. The mixer has been serviced and tested.

photo of can
photo of can
Cans from WW II found on battleship Massachusetts.

photo
Photo of the commercial cans from war time. These may not be representative of what the government bought.

photo from museum of range
Photo inside Edison Type B Oven on Pampanito
Top rack is original, bottom is a replica.

photo from museum of range
Photo of top of Edison Type B Range Top on Pampanito.

photo before restoration
Photo on Pampanito from early 1980s.

photo before restoration
Photo on Pampanito from early 1980s.

photo before restoration
Photo on Pampanito from early 1980s.

copy of menu
Copy of menu from USS Ronquil 1945, must have been in port, or just left given all the fresh food. It would be interesting to get a menu from the last week at sea.

copy of menu
Copy of menu from USS Bowfin 1945, retyped for display on their boat.

 

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