How refrigeration spread through shipboard systems

When did ships adopt mechanical refrigeration, and was it first used for food or magazines?

Probably food storage, although no introduction date is established. Magazines already benefited from cool locations below the waterline, while later electronics created additional cooling demands.

Food storage is the tentative first use suggested for mechanical refrigeration aboard ships. Magazines already benefited from positions below the waterline, where the surrounding sea helped keep them cool. Temperature-sensitive propellants predated practical refrigeration, so their response to heat was already a familiar problem. Electronics and especially microelectronics created a different requirement because equipment could generate heat while becoming unable to operate above a temperature limit. A precise introduction date depends on which refrigeration technology and degree of cooling count.