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[Paul]

A pound of the biscuit they carried on ships would probably be pretty high in calories, since it was basically dry crackers made of flour and lard. A pound of whole grain flour is a bit over 1500 calories. A pound of lard is more like 4000 calories, but it probably wouldn't have had a whole lot of lard in it.

Even adding a good bit of water and salt and stuff would have to make a pretty high calorie biscuit. I don't know, but if I had to guess I'd say somewhere around 1200-1400 calories.

Even assuming a low 1100 would be 12,100 calories.

The real nightmare is imagining having to eat 11 pounds of the stuff on a daily basis... I hope they had a large water ration

I have a feeling that number is wrong.

[Grakelin]

Cook was obsessed with making sure his crew was healthy. They also ate a lot of sauerkraut. Nobody got scurvy!

Though they all died of disease near the end due to their large water ration, ironically enough.

EDIT: A pound is a bit less than one might think, incidentally. When I worked in the Superstore Deli, I used to finish off 3 or 4 pounds of heavily salted meat myself during a five hour shift. I can only image how much a sailor who has been out in the sun all day would want.

[Paul]

I think you're underestimating what 11 pounds of crackers would be.

Take this for instance:http://www.nabiscoworld.com/Brands/ProductInformation.aspx?BrandKey=premium&Site=1&Product=4400000057

Each box is one pound. I may have underestimated the calorie count of crackers, by the way - those are about 1800 calories per pound.

I'm not sure if you've had those, but that isn't a small box. Each box has about 150 crackers. I can't imagine eating 11 boxes of those in a day, no matter how much work I did.

[Grakelin]

Biscuits used in the navy weren't crackers, though. They were chunks of hard tack filled with vermin and the like.

And I could easily eat 11 boxes of crackers if that was all I had to eat, besides a small helping of peas.

[Paul]

It would be more comparable to crackers than to biscuits, though - it wasn't fluffy and flaky. It was a hard, dry chunk of baked flour. It was very dry, which made it keep better. I read a bit about it out of curiosity and apparently it wasn't made with lard, just flour and water.

Apparently theres still a place that sells hardtack. Doesn't this look yummy?

[Dr. Johbson]

Quickly reading over this thread has taught me valuable lessons, such as, this is a cool thread. Good to know you're still doing this.

[Krumbs]

I have had a very similar idea to yours, except it's based in the future rather than the past, I always imagined digging to be more like in Minecraft though but less blocky and more smooth. I've even got a lot of drawings about it which I could post if you didn't feel I was taking over the thread.

[Tilla]

Glad to hear from you again Thes, I've been occasionally peeking at the site for signs of activity

[Labs]

Kewlness. I'm glad this is still alive.

[Akura]

Apparently theres still a place that sells hardtack. Doesn't this look yummy?

Actually, it does.
But not for $10.

I know little about how to run a ship, but 11 pounds daily sounds like a bit much. Maybe not for a warship, which needs its sailors fighting fit at all times, though. A merchant ship would need to use as little space as possible for anything but cargo, so I'd imagine they'd have a much smaller ration.

It's also possible that the definition of a "pound" back then is different to a pound today.

[Goron]

In the modern world, people eat a hell of a lot more than they used to in the past. What we consider a 'meal' would have more in common with the royals' meals than it would with the peasants' meals.

But your point still stands about the amount of space needed for farmlands.

Then again, a seaman on Captain Cook's vessel during 1768-1771 would receive eleven pounds of biscuit per day, plus whatever the allocated vegetable/meat was that day.

That's half a ton per day for a crew of 100.

Please provide citation for your claim.

EDIT:
Considering the official English rations of the time consisted of ONE pound biscuit (plus other foods) it goes to show that the necessary calorie intake for a sailor likely matches around that level. To force 11 pounds of biscuit a day is far fetched.

Code: [Select]

            Sunday:             1 lb. biscuit, 1 lb. salt pork, ½  pt. peas

            Monday:          1 lb. biscuit, 1 pt. oatmeal, 2 oz. butter

            Tuesday:          1 lb. biscuit, 2 lbs. salt beef

            Wednesday:    1 lb. biscuit, ½ pt. peas, 1 pt. oatmeal, 2 oz. butter, 4 oz. cheese

            Thursday:        Same as Sunday

            Friday:              Same as Monday

            Saturday:          Same as Tuesday
(a source: http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1776salthorse.htm)

[Thes33]

Wow... Wednesday looks like a good day.  Real veggies and cheese!  oh boy!

[Goron]

Wow... Wednesday looks like a good day.  Real veggies and cheese!  oh boy!

And what I didn't include was the liquid rations: One gallon bear every day. Who needs fresh water when you have beer!?

[Dwarf]

That's kind of obvious though. Beer is less risky than water and holds longer without spoiling.

[Goron]

That's kind of obvious though. Beer is less risky than water and holds longer without spoiling.

Not to mention it does not necessarily have to be very alcoholic at all to provide the benefits you indicated.
I'd like to know the avg % alcohol of the beer they served.