Refrigeration Equipment
By Patrick McSherry
Proceeding aft, on the port side, the visitor will pass the doors leading
into OLYMPIA's ice and refrigeration equipment
room. She was equipped with a one-and-a-half ton Allen ice machine. The
system utilized the expansion of air to create the cooling. The amount
of ice that could be produced was quite small, measured in the low hundreds
of pounds per day, if it was not also used to cool water for other purposes.
Piping from the ice machine was also run through the Refrigeration Room
to help cool the space, and keep the food stored there preserved. Cold
air was also piped to the “scuttlebutt” (crew’s drinking water dispenser)
to provide chilled water.
The equipment can be seen through the glass ports adjacent to
the doors. The OLYMPIA was the first United States naval vessel to be equipped
with refrigeration, allowing for great changes in the diet of the ordinary
sailor.
