MESSDECKS
Messdeck is the term given to the area where the sailors lived. Life
aboard the ship was crowded. In the Upper Messdeck, located in the forward
part of the ship, 130 enlisted men slept, ate and dressed. Another 90 men
had identical accommodations in the Lower Messdeck. Both Messdecks were
divided into Forward and After sections. The men slept in hammocks which
were put up each evening. By regulation, each man was allowed 18 inches
of air space over his hammock.
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| Upper forward mess deck looking forward. During wartime, ammunition
was carried from the ammunition hoists, through the mess decks, placed
on trays as shown at the right side of the photo , then passed through
the deck where it eventually made its way to the guns. (Photo by Jerry
Proc) |
In the photo below, each of the tables represents a 'Mess'.
Eleven to twelve men were grouped into a particular area. Along the sides
of the
Messdeck are grey, wooden lockers. These
also doubled as Mess seating and were the only space that a sailor had
for this clothing or 'Kit'. The Tribals were 'luxurious' in comparison
to their predecessors according to a former seaman. Examples of this were:
covers over light fixtures, padded seats in the Mess and the luxury of
luxuries - a food warmer which kept food warm for those coming off watch.
It had a great influence on improving morale.
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| This mockup, from HAIDA's Ontario Place era, interprets
life in the Mess Deck. (Photo by Jerry Proc) |
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| This is an example of a dish locker. (Photo by Jerry Proc) |
Gord Walker, who served in HMCS Micmac, provides this snippet of
life in the Mess Deck. " I slung my hammock (aka mic) just outside the
paint locker with the head extended over the "bin" that held the rolled-up
hammocks when they weren't hung from the deckhead. Some of the others
slung their mics over the mess tables and of course they were usually
the last ones up. I remember quite often sitting down to breakfast
only to have someone swing down from above, placing his foot onto my plate
and watching the egg yolk squish up between his toes. Aboard Micmac we
didn't have anything onboard to keep the food warm in the mess. With
broadside messing it was always a challenge at sea to make it back to the
mess without plastering your meal onto the bulkhead somewhere between the
galley and the mess. We were lucky though - the guys in the forward
lower mess had to navigate down a ladder with their plates! "
