Ship's doctor

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A ship's doctor or ship's surgeon (frequently also called a navy surgeon or naval surgeon) is the person responsible for the health of the people aboard a ship at sea. The term "ship's doctor" or "ship's surgeon" appears often in reference to the British Royal Navy's "surgeons" during the Age of Sail. These men, like other physicians, often did not have much medical training. They cared for the members of the ship, dealing with wounds from battle, disease and the other medical problems which plagued the Royal Navy throughout the world.

Surgeon physician with surgical specialty

In modern medicine, a surgeon is a physician who performs surgical operations. There are also surgeons in podiatry, dentistry and the veterinary fields.

Royal Navy Maritime warfare branch of the United Kingdoms military

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.

Age of Sail era dominated by sailing vesels out at sea

The Age of Sail was a period roughly corresponding to the early modern period in which international trade and naval warfare were dominated by sailing ships, lasting from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century.

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Royal Navy

During the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy carried trained medical officers aboard its warships, who usually learned their trade before coming on board ship. They were generally called surgeons. The Navy Board qualified surgeons through an examination at the Barber-Surgeons' Company and they were responsible to the Sick and Wounded Board under the Navy Board. [1] Warranted Naval Medical officers, similar to doctors on shore, were not required to have a medical degree and were generally trained by apprenticeship. [1] By 1814, the Royal Navy had 14 physicians, 850 surgeons, 500 assistants surgeons caring for 130,000 men on shore and at sea. [2] They were very well paid, starting at £14 per month in 1815 for surgeons with less than 6 years of experience, up to £25 4s for 20 years of experience. [3] They were also allowed £43 for equipment, £5 for every 100 cases of venereal disease they treated, and a personal servant. [4] Factoring in prize money, a ship's surgeon could make well over £200 a year. [4]

Warship ship that is built and primarily intended for combat

A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more manoeuvrable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew. Warships usually belong to a navy, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations.

Rank

Surgeons were ranked by the Navy Board based on their training and social status. [5] Surgeons were wardroom warrant officers with a high status, billeted along with the other officers in the wardroom. [4] Until the Navy's medical services were reorganized in 1806, surgeons were warranted by individual ship captains, not commissioned by the Admiralty. After 1808, surgeons, like masters were considered equivalent to commissioned officers and were 'Warrant officers of Wardroom Rank'. [6]

Surgeons were assisted by surgeon's mates, who after 1805 were called assistant surgeons. [6] The surgeon and his mates were assisted by boys, who were called loblolly boys, named after the gruel commonly served in the sick bay. [7] A small number of doctors with a prestigious medical education were ranked as physicians; they would supervise surgeons on ships or run hospitals on shore. [2]

A surgeon's mate was a rank in the Royal Navy for a medically trained assistant to the ship's surgeon. The rank was renamed assistant surgeon in 1805, and was considered equivalent to the rank of master's mate/mate. In 1807, first-rate would have three, a third-rate two, and frigates and sloops one.

Loblolly boy is the informal name given to the assistants to a ship's surgeon aboard British and American warships during the Age of Sail. The name derives from a porridge traditionally served to sick or injured crew members.

Duties

The surgeon's duties included responsibility for his mates and loblolly boys, visiting patients at least twice a day, and keeping accurate records on each patient admitted to his care. The surgeon would take morning sick call at the mainmast, assisted by his mates, as well as tending to injured sailors during the day. During sea battles, the surgeon worked in the cockpit, a space permanently partitioned off near a hatchway down which the wounded could be carried for treatment. The deck was strewn with sand prior to battle to prevent the surgeon from slipping in the blood that accumulated. [4]

In addition to caring for the sick and wounded, surgeons were responsible for regulating sanitary conditions on the ship. They fumigated the sick bay and sometimes whole decks by burning brimstone (sulfur), and maintained the ventilating machines that supplied fresh air to the lower decks to keep them dry. [4]

Fumigation

Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides—or fumigants—to suffocate or poison the pests within. It is used to control pests in buildings, soil, grain, and produce, and is also used during processing of goods to be imported or exported to prevent transfer of exotic organisms. This method also affects the structure itself, affecting pests that inhabit the physical structure, such as woodborers and drywood termites.

Sick bay compartment in a ship used for medical purposes

A sick bay is a compartment in a ship, or a section of another organisation, such as a school or college, used for medical purposes.

Sulfur Chemical element with atomic number 16

Sulfur or sulphur is a chemical element with symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent, and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow, crystalline solid at room temperature.

Famous surgeons

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Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Lavery 1989 , p. 101
  2. 1 2 King 2001 , pp. 31
  3. ↑ Lewis 1960 , p. 304
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 King 2001 , pp. 33
  5. ↑ King 2001 , p. 32
  6. 1 2 King 2001 , p. 16
  7. ↑ King 2001 , pp. 279
  8. ↑ "Explorers of Australia: George Bass and Matthew Flinders". Archived from the original on 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-05-22.

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