"Ice cream barge" is the colloquial term for a BRL (Barge, Refrigerated, Large). BRLs were towed vessels employed by the United States Navy in the Pacific theater of World War II to store frozen and refrigerated foodstuffs. They were also able to produce ice cream in large quantities to be provisioned to sailors and US Marines. Three in total were produced: USS Hydrogen, USS Calcium, and USS Antimony. [1] The ships, concrete barges acquired from the US Army and worth one million dollars, stored 1,500 tons of frozen meat and 500 tons of refrigerated vegetables, eggs, and dairy products indefinitely at 15°F (−9 °C). To improve the morale of overseas troops, an ice cream freezer facility was included, able to create 10 US gallons (38 L) of ice cream every seven minutes, or approximately 500 US gal (1,900 L) per shift (equivalent to five tons per day), and could store 2,000 US gal (7,600 L). [2] [3] [4] They were employed in the USN's Western Pacific area of operations, at one point anchored at Naval Base Ulithi. [5] The army built three concrete barges of its own. [6] [ disputed – discuss ]