The food on submarines was simple and nearly always the same: crisp bread, canned food and dry grub. The galley seaman alias mess boy was responsible for the food on the vessel. This tended to be a conscript’s first assignment on a submarine. At sea, the galley seaman either prepared the food by himself in the galley or fetched it from the depot ship. 

The galley seaman’s work in the circumstances on board were challenging indeed. At his disposal, he had a draining board, a sink and two small electric cookers on which he was supposed to prepare meals for the entire 20-member crew, and what he had to serve was usually soup or porridge. To make things worse, high seas and dives rocked the vessel more than enough. Glasses, plates and cups fell off and broke down on the floor. 

To break the monotony of the food they were served, the men sought variety by fishing and trading crisp bread for potatoes at the local market place. Even during the war, real coffee was one of submarine men’s luxuries. By some of them, coffee was believed to prevent fainting if the air you breathed got bad