The crew of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (1943–1974) baked—and ate—countless cakes over the years. Explore the history of these delicious desserts and the stories of the sailors who created them.
Supplying a ship
Cakes start with ingredients. Intrepid left port packed with enough supplies to sustain 3,000 crew members for long stretches at sea. Before departure, the sailors responsible for food service stocked up on supplies. Most provisions were canned, dried or frozen so they would last as long as possible.
Fixed-price List, U.S. Navy Subsistence Office Fixed-price List, U.S. Navy Subsistence Office (1963)Intrepid Museum
Before leaving port, sailors went to the Navy Exchange, which was like a large supermarket. They stocked up on food for the deployment.
Underway Replenishment (1957/1961)Intrepid Museum
Intrepid needed to be resupplied numerous times during a six- to eight-month cruise. Transferring supplies to a ship at sea is a complex and dangerous process.
Sometimes, a supply ship transferred food to Intrepid using a line that connected the two vessels. Both ships had to travel at the same speed and maintain a constant distance.
Cake for a crew
Intrepid crew members could eat something sweet—cake, pie, cobbler, cookies—at every lunch or dinner. Muffins, cinnamon rolls or other pastries appeared on the chow line at breakfast. Sailors baked these items from scratch, drawing on Navy recipes used across the fleet.
Menu from Intrepid’s Enlisted Galley Menu from Intrepid’s Enlisted Galley (1968/1970)Intrepid Museum
Most of the crew ate meals in a part of the ship called the mess deck, which was like a cafeteria. The personnel who oversaw food service developed weekly menus.
The menus fulfilled a few needs: nutritional requirements, availability of supplies and, of course, taste. The sailors worked hard, so meals featured hearty dishes and desserts.
U.S. Navy Recipe for Easy Chocolate Cake U.S. Navy Recipe for Easy Chocolate Cake (1965/1966)Intrepid Museum
Every item on the menu corresponded to a Navy recipe, written to feed 100 people. Bakers scaled the recipe for their ship. Intrepid’s bakers multiplied this recipe by 30 to feed the entire crew.
Bakers on board
Each dessert served on Intrepid was the product of a small team of hardworking sailors, who worked night and day to keep their shipmates well-fed. For years, the sailors who made meals on Navy vessels were called ship’s cooks and bakers. By the late 1940s, this occupation was renamed commissaryman. Today, Navy men and women who prepare food are called culinary specialists.
U.S. Navy Service Dress White Jumper (1961/1963)Intrepid Museum
Each person on board Intrepid had a particular job. A patch on a sailor's sleeve indicates their job, otherwise known as their rating.
The commissaryman insignia consisted of two crossed keys and a quill pen. Ordering and tracking food supplies, symbolized by the pen, was an important part of the job. Keeping supplies secure was another responsibility.
Bakers on Board a Naval Ship (1941/1945)Intrepid Museum
In the bake shop, groups of three or four sailors worked 12-hour shifts. The night shift baked as many as 800 loaves of bread. The day shift prepared desserts, including about 60 cakes for an average dinner.
Rank and cake
Hierarchy affects most aspects of life on board a Navy ship, and food is no exception. While enlisted crew members ate cafeteria-style in the mess, Intrepid's officers dined separately from the rest of the crew. They had their own cooks who did their own baking, for daily meals as well as celebrations.
U.S. Navy Wardroom Creamer (1955/1959)Intrepid Museum
After a hard day, officers sat down to eat in the wardroom, which featured table service, linen tablecloths, china dishware and silver serving pieces.
Cutting the 7,000th Landing Cake (1944-10-23)Intrepid Museum
In the wardroom, steward’s mates prepared and served officers’ meals.
Almost all steward’s mates on Intrepid were black or Filipino, a result of the Navy’s long history of racial segregation and discrimination. Sailors of color had limited career opportunities in the Navy during this period.
Celebrating with cake
Celebrations, with their accompanying cakes, brought the entire crew together. These events boosted morale. They also helped the crew take their minds off the more difficult aspects of naval service—boredom and monotony, danger and death.
Cake for Intrepid’s 25th Commissioning Anniversary (1968-08-16)Intrepid Museum
Here’s one event that involved a massive cake. On August 16, 1968, Intrepid was deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. The crew gathered to celebrate the ship’s 25th commissioning anniversary.
Intrepid’s 25th Anniversary Cake (1968-08-16)Intrepid Museum
The ship’s bakers designed an elaborate five-layer sheet cake with airplanes on top. The finished confection took a week to create and weighed 1,400 pounds (635 kg). Sailors moved it on a bomb lift.
Capt. Vincent Kelley Serves the 25th Anniversary Cake (1968-08-16)Intrepid Museum
A cake that took a week to make was polished off in just a couple of hours!
Navy Cakes: A Slice of History is made possible by a grant from the Navy Supply Corps Foundation.
The exhibition is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
President, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum: Susan Marenoff-Zausner
Curator: Jessica Williams
Collections: Jennifer Milani, Danielle Swanson and Katherine Woodward
Editor: Rachael Abrams
The Intrepid Museum wishes to thank the former crew members of Intrepid and Growler for sharing their collections and stories with us.
