A small, shallow wooden tub used aboard historic sailing vessels to hold and serve a mess crew's food rations. The ship's cook fills the tub with the daily allowance of stew or salt pork, and the sailors portion it out among themselves. It formed the center of daily life and mealtime on the mess deck.
Heard on the job
Grab the kid and head to the galley before the salt pork is gone.
Insider tip
While wooden tubs are no longer used, the term survives in some navies as slang for any shared serving tray or dish.
Also heard as
- mess kid
- mess tub