Eating question

The officers were entitled to the same food as the men, but the normal practice was to elect one of their number to buy in food and wine for their mess. They paid for this from their own pockets, and it wasn't compulsory to join this system, although officers who opted out were generally not popular. They messed in the wardroom, or the gunroom on a frigate, and were waited on by servants (the servants were crewmen and boys, and not domestic servants. The captain had his own steward, who was a domestic servant). The officers were also supplied with fresh food from the chickens, pigs and sometimes cows housed aboard the ship, again at their own expense. The pigsty was usually placed in the forecastle, in the area that was eventuallly taken over for the sick berth. The chicken coops were often on the quarter deck. The captain could mess with his officers or dine alone, or he could 'keep a table', which meant that he would invite the officers to come and dine with him at his expense. The captain had his own cook and servants.

The midshipmen had their own mess in the cockpit, and by some accounts it was not a place for the timid of spirit. The midshipmen were also entitled to servants, although not as many as the senior officers, as befitted young gentlemen.