Caboose (also camboose, coboose, cubboos derived from the Dutch kombuis) is a term used for a small ship's kitchen, or galley on deck. At one time a caboose related to a smaller kitchen on a merchantman ship, while on a larger warship it was called a galley.[1]
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.
Previous to the introduction of the caboose the furnaces for cooking were, in three-deckers, placed on the middle deck, in two-decked ships in the forecastle.
In Canada a caboose was formerly used to describe a galley on a timber raft.[2]
The term was sometimes also applied to the cast-iron stove used for cooking on deck[1][3] or in galleys during the early 19th century, as well as an outdoor oven or fireplace.[4]