Cooks are responsible for the preparation of food for the Navy at all times and in all conditions both ashore and afloat, in surface ships and submarines. Responsibilities of a Naval Cook include:

• Compilation of provisions orders to meet requirements;
• Management of the budget for the Navy's victualling system;
• Calculation of the volume and type of provisions required by the galley to meet the requirements of the menu;
• Operation of galley (kitchen) equipment, menu planning, and
• Preparation, cooking and presentation (serving) of all foods including meats, breads, cakes, pastries, sauces, vegetables and sweets.

Naval Reserve Cooks are responsible for the preparation of food for the Navy at all times and in all conditions, both ashore and afloat, in surface ships and submarines. Responsibilities of a Naval Cook fall into two main areas. Firstly, those duties connected with the catering role and secondly, additional duties to be undertaken onboard ships.

Duties connected with the catering role include:

• Compilation of provisions orders, including calculating the volume and type of provisions necessary to meet the requirements of the menu;
• Menu planning;
• Operation of galley (kitchen) equipment; and
• Preparation, cooking and presentation (serving) of all foods including meats, breads, cakes, pastries, sauces, vegetables and sweets.

Additional duties undertaken when onboard ships (the nature of these duties, and the mix undertaken will vary depending upon the class of ship) include:

• Act as a member of the Ship's medical emergency, damage control, and firefighting teams;
• Act as a member of the flight deck team in support of the Ship's helicopter;
• Undertake biological and chemical defence training, and ongoing renewal of these skills;
• Seagoing duties may also include such as membership of boarding parties, or upper deck sentry teams.

Cookery Duties on a Major Fleet Unit (MFU):

Once trained, cooks will be employed at sea in a galley, usually in a shift watch system, under limited supervision and guidance to assist in the preparation, cooking and serving of meals. On a typical MFU, the crew may vary between 150 and 220 personnel and the galley team comprises 8 cooks. Four meals are produced each day and the galley team works together, sharing duties to prepare these meals. As in indicator, MFUs in full operating cycles spend approximately 50% of the year at sea. The average period spent at sea in one stretch is one to four weeks.

Cookery Duties on a Minor War Vessel (MWV):

A cook with a high level of competency and proven ability to work unsupervised, may be given additional training in order to serve on MWVs.

Cooks on MWVs are solely responsible for the entire catering function for crews ranging in numbers from 15 to 25.