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Refrigeration Equipment Aboard the Cruiser OLYMPIA

By Patrick McSherry
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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.
 

Refrigeration equipment on the Cruiser Olympia


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.
 

Advertisement for thr Allen Dense Air Ice Machine

 

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