His table is a swinging affair that is hung on the hammock hooks--a mere board a couple of feet wide and twelve or fourteen feet long, having a ridge around the edge to keep the plates from sliding off in a seaway.

Jack's dining chairs are called "mess benches," and consist of a long folding bench that with the table can be stowed away in racks overhead when not in use.

A mess chest for each mess, an enamelled iron plate and cup, and a knife, fork, and spoon for each man complete the "mess gear" outfit.
The ship's company is divided into messes, each man being assigned to a certain mess at the same time his billet number or ship's number is given to him.

There are from fifteen to thirty men in a mess.

Each has its own "berth-deck cook," who prepares the food for the galley; each, too, has a mess caterer, or striker, whose business it is to help the mess cook and see that all goes well.