Observations on the Diseases of Seamen. Sir Gilbert Blane
of the superior health commonly enjoyed by this class of ships over ships of the line; for when she was dispatched to England in the end of April, there had not been a man taken ill from the time of her arrival on the station.
This season was a very active one in the operations of war; for, besides the general battle of the 17th of April, there were two partial actions in May; and, from the 15th of the former month till the 20th of the latter, our fleet was constantly in the face of the enemy’s, except for a few days that it was refitting at St. Lucia after the first battle. This was extremely harrassing to the men, not only from the incessant labour necessary in the evolutions of the fleet, but by their being constantly at quarters with the ships clear for action; for, in that situation, they had nothing to sleep upon but the bare decks, the hammocks and bedding being removed from between decks, where they might embarrass the men in fighting, and they become useful on the quarter deck, by serving to barricade the ship, which is done by placing them in ranges on the gunwale, to cover the men from the enemy’s grape and small shot. These hardships were productive of some sickness, though much less than might have been expected; for the weather is at all times warm, and it was at this time extremely moderate and dry. Besides we shall see in other instances as well as this, that, in the ardour inspired by the presence of an enemy, men are less exhausted by their exertions than on ordinary and less interesting occasions.
Almost the whole of the sick and wounded, to the number of 750, were put on shore at Barbadoes, where all the fleet, except three ships1, arrived on the 22d of May.
I now began to keep regular and methodical accounts of the sickness and mortality in the fleet, though in a manner more imperfect and less accurate than was afterwards adopted. I was embarked on board of the Sandwich, where the Commander in Chief had his flag, so that I was always present with the main body of the fleet, whether at sea or in port.
A form of monthly returns2 was adopted, which, as well as other points of method, was afterwards improved.
After collecting the returns for each month, I made abstracts of them in tables; in one column of which the complement of each ship is set down, in order to form calculations of the comparative prevalence and mortality of different diseases at different times. One of the abstracts is here inserted, (Table I.) by way of specimen, and the proportional result of them for fourteen months is set down in another table, (Table II.)
Though this last exhibits a tolerably just view, yet it may be remarked, as one imperfection, that there was no distinction made at this time in my returns between the killed and those who died of disease; so that in the month of May, which stands first, the proportion is too high; for there were sixty-four killed, and two hundred wounded, in the two actions of that month.
TABLE I.
ABSTRACT of RETURNS,
1st June, 1781.
Transcriber’s keys:
A Complement.
B Sick and Wounded on Board.
C Sent to the Hospital in the course of last Month.
D Dead on Board in the course of last Month.
| SHIPS’ NAMES. | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandwich | 732 | 28 | 36 | 2 |
| Barfleur | 767 | 133 | 22 | 1 |
| Gibraltar | 650 | 67 | 88 | 10 |
| Triumph | 650 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| Centaur | 650 | 45 | 26 | 5 |
| Torbay | 600 | 31 | 57 | 5 |
| Monarch | 600 | 62 | 14 | 2 |
| Terrible | 600 | 85 | 24 | 1 |
| Alfred | 600 | 57 | 38 | 1 |
| Russel | 600 | 44 | 134 | 7 |
| Alcide | 600 | 42 | 35 | 1 |
| Shrewsbury | 600 | 30 | 23 | 5 |
| Invincible | 600 | 50 | 63 | 9 |
| Resolution | 600 | 107 | 54 | 3 |
| Ajax | 550 | 20 | 10 | 2 |
| Princessa | 560 | 88 | 40 | 5 |
| Belliqueux | 500 | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| Prince William | 500 | 25 | 14 | 2 |
| Panther | 420 | 16 | 6 | 0 |
| Triton | 200 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Hyena | 200 | 11 |
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