Standard naval rations combined biscuit, beer, meat, peas, and cheese, with specified meat and non-meat days. Fish was replaced by oatmeal and sugar around the 1730s, while much of the older ration system persisted into Cook's voyages. HMS Victory's December 1796 stores included large quantities of bread, preserved meat, peas, oatmeal, flour, and biscuits. The food material draws on a History Hit article and illustrates the scale of provisioning a ship's company. Some quantities and units in the inventory are uncertain, particularly the wine and vinegar entries, so they should not be treated as a precise accounting here.
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Standard rations and the scale of naval victualling
Long-established rations and Victory's 1796 stores show the range and scale of supplies needed to sustain a sailing warship.