TDIH: WWII's Ice Cream Barges

Ice cream was far more important to the war effort than you might guess.

On this day in 1942, USS Lexington is stricken from the Naval Register. She’s been called an “iconic warship of the US Navy,” but do you know about her connection with ice cream, refrigerated World War II barges, and the United States military?

Yes, ice cream. You read that right. Ice cream was far more important to the war effort than you might guess.

It didn’t start with Lexington, though. The story really begins in 1914, when alcohol was banned aboard Navy vessels and facilities. The order was not well received, as you might imagine. The media poked fun at the rule, and a group of sailors even renamed a captured vessel “USS Piffle” (which means “nonsense”).

Nevertheless, the rule went into effect, followed by Prohibition nationwide. As industries scrambled to adapt, some beer breweries modified their machinery so they could make ice cream. Similarly, many saloons became diners with soda fountain counters.

And, yes, the military also turned to ice cream. World War I was looming, and the tasty dessert became a bit of a morale booster.

Sailors scoop ice cream.

“Studies demonstrate that ice cream is a ‘comfort’ food,” one Naval History magazine article explains, “that ranks above all others. Aside from being the only food to lower the human startle response, the frozen treat is thought to invoke nostalgia that reminds individuals—especially those on long demanding, deployments—of childhood innocence, of security, and of family vacations—memories that can be relaxing.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the love of ice cream continued into World War II. And that’s where the aircraft carrier Lexington comes in. That ship was torpedoed at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. As the order was given to abandon ship, would you believe that some sailors first stopped to get some ice cream?

“We were driven by the fires to the extreme end of the ship,” one Navy fighter ace later said. “The ship’s service ice cream plant was in the extreme port corridor. Some clown passed the word that there was free ice cream, so sailors were abandoning ship and lining up for free ice cream.”

Another sailor remembered that he “hadn’t eaten anything that day except ice cream, which I ate out of my helmet.”

You can imagine that the story made quite an impression on military leaders. The dessert became an important morale booster for the rest of the war.

Ice cream makers were added to Navy vessels, and dehydrated ice cream mix was shipped to Army bases all around the globe. The Army Quartermaster announced a move to build mini ice cream plants near the front lines. Meanwhile, $1 million was spent converting each of three large cement barges into floating ice cream factories.

Okay, so the barges held other perishable food, too, but the ice cream was certainly much loved.

“It’s officially a BRL (Barge, Refrigerated, Large),” a National Dairy Products Corporation ad explained at the time. “Built of concrete, 265 feet long, it cost a million dollars. And it’s worth every penny of that to lonely American boys who are fed up with alphabet rations, however nutritious.”

Each barge could make up to 500 gallons of ice cream a day—and it could store an additional 1,500 gallons.

Maybe you won’t be surprised to hear that Americans celebrated the end of the war by eating more ice cream! The USDA reports that consumption “reached an all-time high of 23 pounds (more than 20 quarts per person) in 1946 as America celebrated its World War II victory and sugar rationing was lifted.”

We all know that the Greatest Generation made sacrifices and fought to defend freedom—but it turns out they helped make ice cream an all-American food, too.

Sources can always be found on my website, here.