Most of these men had the American knack of adaptiveness and soon fitted into the duties required of them; showed such a splendid desire to make good that after the first trip we were able to compare the Commissary Department, and by no means discreditably, with that on the huge British transports, Olympic and Mauretania.
The system steadily improved, and it is safe to assume that we are unexcelled by any other similar sea-going organization.
Because of the “training afloat” system laid out by the Navy Department it is estimated that about 100 trained men have left the Leviathan, trained by actual experience in cooking and baking, thus giving the growing navy a trained personnel, not only cooks and bakers, but American man-o’-war’s men, developed as such by the stern requirements of war conditions.
Horseshoer Thinks Cooking Easy
Each man reporting aboard was required to fill out a questionaire blank stating experience, etc. This was done so that men could be placed to the best advantage in the galley, bakery, storerooms and offices. Some of the answers were laughable. For instance, one stated that his sole experience was cooking for his sisters when mother was obliged to go out. Another had been a horseshoer for about eighteen years, another had no experience, but he knew that cooking was very easy to learn and that he was there for that purpose. One man made a strong bid for the billet of head waiter and informed the Commissary Steward that if he gave him the job he would send at once to Chicago for his Tuxedo.
German Secret Service Interested
During this time it was well known that the German Secret Service was much interested in the Leviathan and for that reason all new arrivals were carefully watched. One suspicious commissary recruit was picked out and turned over to the authorities. He was so clearly German, both in speech and appearance, that it would have been impossible for him to get by, and although nothing was heard of his fate, it is safe to assume that he was interned in a safe place until the end of the war.
The actual fitting out was a tremendous problem, most of the German kitchen machinery and utensils were found either in bad condition or useless for the coming needs and almost a new installation was built, using, however, the German kettles and ranges when possible, discarding anything not absolutely essential. It was often a matter of considerable thought and discussion to decide what should be kept and what discarded.
There were found on the ship seven complete kitchens, counting the two Jewish kitchens which were designed for Kosher cooking. These were intended to provide for the large number of Jewish immigrants carried over in the third class or steerage compartments and all these galleys had been splendidly fitted out to care for about 5,000 passengers and 1,000 crew. As the problem was to prepare for about 15,000 it can be readily seen that some drastic changes were required.