On the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in service in the United States, there are more than 300 "lead soldiers" specializing in cooking, including more than 90 chefs and more than 200 restaurant staff. They can provide more than 1,000 kinds of food to the soldiers on the ship, including 23 kinds of drinks, nearly 80 kinds of desserts, 118 kinds of salads, 114 kinds of sandwiches, and nearly 750 kinds of meat and vegetable dishes.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is equipped with 14 food warehouses, including 2 food distribution storage rooms, 6 dry cargo warehouses, 2 refrigerated warehouses and 4 freezer warehouses.
Due to the large number of crew members, the consumption of food on the aircraft carrier is staggering. Just take the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier as an example. The crew members on this aircraft carrier eat 8,000 pounds of bacon, 60,000 potatoes, 24,000 pounds of hamburgers, 44,000 pounds of hot dogs, 3,000 pounds of fish, and 8,000 pounds of steaks every month. In addition, The soldiers also drank 1,800 gallons of milk and 4,000 gallons of orange juice.
On U.S. aircraft carriers, servicemen of different ranks do not dine together. ***There are 7 restaurants, including 2 soldiers' mess, 1 sergeant major's mess, 1 flight officer mess, 1 crew officer mess, 1 formation leader's mess and 1 captain's mess.
The tables in the soldiers' dining room are generally long tables, which can accommodate up to 60% of the crew members to eat together at a time. The dining environment in the officers' mess is better than that in the soldiers' mess. Dining tables are usually for four or two. The service in the officers' mess is almost the same as that in hotels on the shore. Officers who come to dine here can order what they like after taking a seat. When the food is ready, dedicated service personnel will bring it to the table for them to enjoy.
If the dining environment in the officers’ dining room can be called elegant, then the captain’s dining room and the formation leader’s dining room in the US aircraft carrier can be called luxurious. These two restaurants are located next to the captain's room and the chief's room respectively. Their interior decoration is magnificent and the tableware used is beautiful and exquisite. The restaurant is equipped with a chief cook, a full-time chef and several waiters, who can provide diners with a variety of delicious dishes.
A two-week cycle of recipes to ensure that the meals are different every day during the cycle. The cooks on the US aircraft carrier have to make 18,000-20,000 pieces of food every day. In addition, they also have to provide packed lunches or fast food for soldiers with special needs on the ship at any time. The workload can be said to be quite heavy.
Open-air barbecue parties will also be held regularly on the deck of the aircraft carrier. All kinds of food are available. The steaks are charred on the outside and tender on the inside, the grilled sausages are sizzling with oil, and the delicious roast chicken are all mouth-watering.
In order to add fun to the sailors and relieve the psychological discomfort caused by long-term voyages at sea, the US military often holds basketball games, tug-of-war competitions, concerts, performances and other types of entertainment on aircraft carriers. activities to provide sailors with mental enjoyment and physical relaxation.
The US military aircraft carrier also has complete sports and fitness facilities. Gyms on aircraft carriers are generally located in the stern area and are equipped with fitness equipment such as dumbbells, barbells, treadmills, rowing machines, cycling machines, and combination fitness machines, which can ensure that each sailor on the ship can exercise three times a week. 30 minutes of physical exercise each time.
Equipped with televisions, they are generally located in the rest area and some work areas. TVs on US military aircraft carriers generally have three channels: movie channel, TV series channel and training channel. In addition, they can also broadcast CNN news, NBA basketball games and domestic football games and other programs with a wide audience.
U.S. aircraft carriers also have supermarkets, post offices, barber rooms and other cabins. However, it should be pointed out that coins are not allowed on the aircraft carrier because small items falling on the deck may cause flight accidents. Sailors must use accounting or credit card methods when they need to consume.
The US military aircraft carrier also has a special laundry room, which is used to wash the daily clothes, work clothes and public fabrics of the sailors on the ship. The laundry room of a US military aircraft carrier generally consists of a collection and sorting room, a washing and disinfecting room, a drying and ironing room, a storage and mailing room, etc., forming a complete, orderly, and interlocking laundry work chain.
It is also equipped with complete medical and health facilities. The medical cabin is equipped with different treatment departments such as internal medicine, surgery, ENT, and dentistry. There are also operating rooms, physiotherapy rooms, injection rooms, wards, isolation rooms, sterilization rooms, laboratories, X-ray rooms, and peacekeeping rooms. Rooms and other dedicated medical rooms. In addition to specialized medical service areas, each combat position on the US military aircraft carrier also has surgical dressing stations, first aid kits and other medical stations to meet the needs of emergency rescue of the injured during wartime.