Life at Sea - Medicine on board ship in 1805

Medicine

Health onboard ship was very important as no ship could run with a sick crew. Once at sea no crew replacements could be found so it was up to the ship's surgeon to help keep the men healthy and tend to wounds and injuries. Although some of the treatments may seem barbaric by today's standards they were effective in keeping the crew fit and alive.

Landsmen would not have been able to get such good treatment and many would have died from any sickness or injury similar to that suffered by a sailor partly due of the lack of access to a good doctor and partly due to the expense.

Surgeon The sick and injured on board were cared for by the Surgeon, the surgeon's mate and a small number of men and boys (known as Loblolly Boys) detailed off by the Captain. The illustration on the right shows the Surgeon cleaning medical instruments after an operation.

The surgeon and surgeon's mate were trained and expected to gain higher qualifications for which their pay was increased. They had to have their own medical instruments and medicines and were paid a wage of around £5.00 monthly. The surgeon also acted as a dentist.

The surgeon could claim extra payments for the different kinds of diseased he treated - for example - for every one hundred cases of of infectious diseases he treated he could claim another £5.00. It's not surprising then that the surgeon's journals often showed more infectious disease cases than he had really treated.

The crew were charged by the surgeon for all the treatment he gave. He had paid for all the medicines in the first place and then get the cost back.

The Loblolly Boys got their odd name from the manner the gruel, which was often served to the sick, was boiled. Although they had no formal training they were shown by the surgeon how to care for the sick and injured and they would do their best to help ease the pain and suffering of their crewmates.

More naval personnel died of disease and accident that through being wounded in action. Crowded and unhygienic conditions, poor food and water, rotting food in the holds and the presence of rats contributed to many illnesses and disease. By 1805, however, the many of the diseases coule be treated properly and scurvey has almost disappeared in the Navy because the use of Vitamin C had been recognised and either fresh fruit or limejuice was issued to combat it. Nelson also had a remedy against scurvey and made his ship's companies eat a raw onion once a week as onions are high in Vitamin C.

Admiral Lord Nelson said "It is easier to keep the men healthy than to cure their ills." and this was one of the main reasons he would always make the greatest efforts to get fresh food and water whenever possible.

The Sickbay

The sickbay (hospital) was where the sick and injured were cared for when not in battle. On HMS Victory the sickbay was on the starboard side of the upper gun-deck, right forward.

The reason it was placed there was because the toilet facilities were close by, there was plently of fresh air and also, underneath the sickbay, was the ship's galley so in winter or cold conditions warmth would permeate through the deck to help keep the area warm. As you can see it was very basic.

One of the guns would have been covered with planking and screened off with canvas to act as an examining or operating table and sick crewmens' hammocks were slung up in the area.

The hospital and operating theatre in times of battle

In times of battle the sickbay would be dismantled and a makeshift hospital and operating theatre area constructed on the Orlop Deck below the waterline and away from the chaos of the fighting raging overhead. This was all put together very quickly as the need arose.

Battle produced many different types of injuries and burns were commonplace, including flash burns caused by gunpowder being ignited. These type of injuries were treated by being cooled with water or urine (which in itself is sterile) and then butter, or linseed oil , limewater, olive oil or compresses of cold vinegar were applied. It seems odd there is no reference to the use of salt water - after all, there was plenty around.

Broken bones happened not only in battle but at any time onboard, especially from falls from the rigging. If the break was fairly simple then the limb could be eased back into position and splints applied but if it was more complicated - perhaps with a bone sticking out through the flesh - then amputation again became the answer.

Musket and pistol shot could be removed from a man's flesh by the use of a bullet extractor. This gruesome piece of equipment was pushed into the would and clamped round the shot to hold it firmly before extraction.

Surgeon's table The picture on the right shows some of the surgeon's medical instruments on his table and quite a few look more like woodworking tools than anything else. Operations were very dangerous - there was no protection against infection and no anaesthetic either. Probably the worst operation would have been to have an injured limb amputated. The patient would have been strapped or held down to the operating table was given a piece of leather strap to bite down on. The limb would be removed using knives for the flesh and saws on the bone, the arteries and veins were tied off to prevent further bleeding and the flesh sutured (stitched closed). The remaining stump was then treated with oil of turpentine. The use of hot tar was only used as a last resort. Naval surgeons could carry out an amputation in only one and a half minutes.

You must remember that in times of battle there would have been many wounded waiting for treatment and had to be attended to as quickly as possible to try and save their lives.

Shock took its toll and men died because of infection, the lack of trained care even after an injury had been treated or by injuries too complicated to treat effectively - but we must still remember it was disease, not battle, that killed in the majority of cases. Under the circumstances and in very poor conditions the ships medical crew really did quite amazing work.