A caboose (also ''camboose, coboose, cubboos'' derived from the

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

''kombuis'') is a small ship's

kitchen A kitchen is a room (architecture), room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a Kitchen stove, stove, a sink ...

, or

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

, located on an open deck. At one time a small kitchen was called a ''caboose'' if aboard a merchantman (or in Canada, on a timber raft), but a ''galley'' aboard a

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

.''A Naval Encyclopaedia: comprising a dictionary of nautical words and phrases; biographical notices, and records of naval officers''; special articles on naval art and science, written expressly for this work by officers and others of recognized authority in the branches treated by them. Together with descriptions of the principal naval stations and seaports of the world. Lewis R. Hammersly & Co, Philadelphia, 1881. The term was sometimes also applied to the cast-iron

stove A stove or range is a device that generates heat inside or on top of the device, for - local heating or cooking. Stoves can be powered with many fuels, such as natural gas, electricity, gasoline, wood, and coal. Due to concerns about air pollu ...

used for cooking on deck or in galleys during the early 19th century, as well as an outdoor oven or fireplace.''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', Fourth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company. William Falconer's 1780 ''A Universal Dictionary of the Marine'' describes a caboose thus: "a sort of box or house to cover the chimney of some merchant-ships. It somewhat resembles a sentry-box, and generally stands against the barricade on the fore part of the quarter-deck". Sometimes the caboose was portable. Prior to the introduction of the caboose the furnaces for cooking were, aboard

three-decker A three-decker was a sailing warship which carried her principal carriage-mounted guns on three fully armed decks. Usually additional (smaller) guns were carried on the upper works (forecastle and quarterdeck), but this was not a continuous ba ...

s, placed on the middle deck, and aboard two-decked ships in the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

References

Ship compartments Nautical terminology Kitchen {{water-transport-stub