Have you ever wondered why sailors from the 16th to the 18th century were often so unhealthy? During this time, as the British Empire expanded across the world, sailors faced many challenges while spending months at sea. One of the biggest problems was staying healthy during these long voyages.
As sea travel became more common, sailors started suffering from a mysterious and terrible disease. After just a few weeks at sea, they would feel weak and tired, sometimes with a slight fever and irritability. If the disease continued, it got much worse. Sailors would have sore and bleeding gums, lose their teeth, suffer from painful joints, and even have yellowing skin and eyes, a condition known as jaundice. Without treatment, they could fall into a coma and die.
Strangely, when sailors returned to land and rested, they often recovered quickly. Many sailors experienced this disease multiple times. Back then, people thought it was caused by the tough life at sea or the poor naval diet. Some even believed it was due to laziness or an imbalance in the body.
The typical diet for sailors in the Royal Navy was not very healthy. They ate a lot of salted pork and beef, along with fish and turtles they could catch. Their weekly rations included six pounds of salted meat, small amounts of butter and cheese, and about 10 pounds of hardtack biscuits and oatmeal. Hardtack was cheap but tasteless and often infested with bugs. Sailors also got a daily pint of beer and a watered-down shot of rum. Fresh fruits and vegetables were only available at the start of the voyage because they spoiled quickly. This meant sailors had no source of vitamin C for most of their journey.
To fight scurvy, the Royal Navy tried different methods, like increasing the beer ration, giving sailors sauerkraut, and a sugary malt drink. Unfortunately, these didn’t work well. One dangerous “cure” was the elixir of vitriol, a mix of sulfuric acid and alcohol.
Scurvy was such a big problem that up to 50% of sailors with it died during long voyages. Pirates also struggled with scurvy because they couldn’t easily get fresh supplies and often had no doctors on board.
In 1747, a Scottish doctor named James Lind, while on the British warship HMS Salisbury, found a connection between sailors’ poor diet and scurvy. He suggested that eating fresh citrus fruits could cure it. However, his discovery was overlooked at the time.
In 1793, Rear Admiral Gardner, after consulting with physician Gilbert Blaine, decided to carry lemon juice on ships heading to India. He had seen how the Spanish Navy used lemon juice to prevent scurvy. When the ships arrived in India without any cases of scurvy, it was a huge success.
The Royal Navy quickly recommended lemon juice as a daily ration for all ships. By 1795, lemon juice was given to the entire fleet, and scurvy soon became a thing of the past. Scientists later discovered that scurvy was caused by a lack of vitamin C, which is found in fresh fruits and vegetables.
Imagine you’re a sailor on a long voyage. Create a diary entry for each week of your journey, describing how your health changes based on your diet. Use the information from the article to predict what symptoms you might experience and how you might feel. Share your diary with the class and discuss how your experiences compare.
Using what you’ve learned about the sailor’s diet and the importance of vitamin C, design a weekly menu for sailors that includes preserved foods available during the 16th to 18th centuries. Make sure to include sources of vitamin C and explain your choices to the class.
Work in groups to create a short play about Dr. James Lind’s experiment and the eventual adoption of lemon juice in the Royal Navy. Assign roles such as Dr. Lind, sailors, and naval officers. Perform your play for the class to illustrate the challenges and breakthroughs in discovering the cure for scurvy.
Research another historical disease that affected sailors or explorers. Create a presentation that explains the disease, its symptoms, causes, and how it was eventually cured or managed. Compare it to scurvy and present your findings to the class.
Conduct a simple experiment to test the vitamin C content in different fruits and vegetables. Use iodine and a starch solution to see which foods have the highest vitamin C levels. Record your results and discuss how these foods could have helped sailors prevent scurvy.
**Sanitized Transcript:**
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Why were sailors so unhealthy from the 16th to the 18th century? As the British Empire spread across the globe during the 16th and 17th centuries, a new set of challenges emerged, such as how to live at sea for many months without most sailors getting sick or dying.
During this period, the world underwent significant political and cultural transformations due to exchanges happening through sea trade. The sea became the main stage for world politics. As longer voyages became more common, sailors began to suffer from a strange and horrible disease. It would appear after just a few weeks at sea, initially presenting as unexplained weakness and fatigue, accompanied by a slight fever and increased irritability. If the condition persisted for a few months, it would worsen, leading to sore and bleeding gums, tooth loss, agonizing headaches, swollen and painful joints, deteriorating eyesight, and eventually jaundice, where the skin and eyes would yellow. Soon after, the victim could fall into a coma and die shortly thereafter.
Oddly, if they returned to land and were given the chance to rest and recuperate, they would often make a full and speedy recovery. Many sailors experienced this disease multiple times in their lives. At that time, it was commonly believed that scurvy was a digestive imbalance caused by the hardships of life at sea and the naval diet. Others thought it was due to an excess of black bile or laziness.
The standard Royal Navy diet lacked fresh meat, relying on salted pork and beef for protein, along with whatever fish and turtles could be caught. The weekly ration during the 18th century consisted of six pounds of salted meat, equivalent to the meat from 24 quarter-pound burgers, along with small quantities of butter and cheese, and a large amount of biscuit and oatmeal totaling around 10 pounds. The biscuit, called hardtack, was inexpensive but tasteless and prone to bug infestations. Sailors also received a daily pint of beer and a watered-down shot of rum. In tough times, rats would be caught and eaten, which helped control the onboard vermin population. However, fresh fruits and vegetables were only served at the beginning of the voyage, as they would spoil quickly. Thus, for most long trips, the sailors’ diet completely lacked any source of vitamin C.
To combat scurvy, the Royal Navy introduced several measures, such as increasing the beer ration, encouraging the consumption of sauerkraut, and issuing a sugary drink made from malt. None of these were particularly effective, and one so-called cure, the elixir of vitriol, which consisted of sulfuric acid mixed with alcoholic spirits, was extremely dangerous.
Scurvy became such a problem on long-distance voyages that the Royal Navy was forced to take action, as up to 50% of those afflicted died during the early age of sail, with one in seven sick sailors dying from it in the 18th century. It wasn’t just the fleets of great European powers that suffered; pirates also faced significant challenges due to scurvy. Pirates were often limited in where they could obtain fresh supplies and relied on plundered food, which was often even more deficient in vitamin C than that of the British or French navies. Compounding the issue, pirate ships rarely carried doctors, so they depended on luck for medical care.
In 1747, a Scottish doctor named James Lind, aboard the British warship HMS Salisbury, discovered a link between a sailor’s poor diet at sea and the true cause of scurvy, suggesting it could be cured by eating fresh citrus fruit. However, his findings were overshadowed by his work on clinical medical experiment methods and hygiene, causing his work on scurvy to be overlooked.
In 1793, Rear Admiral Gardner, after consulting with physician Gilbert Blaine, insisted that his ships heading on a four-month voyage to India carry lemon juice to be issued daily to the crew. Gardner had witnessed the ineffectiveness of the so-called cures for scurvy and was impressed by how the Spanish Navy managed the problem with regular doses of lemon juice. When a small fleet of ships arrived in India without a single crew member suffering from scurvy, it was a remarkable achievement for such a long voyage.
The Royal Navy’s Sick and Hurt Board quickly recommended to the British Admiralty that lemon juice be issued as a daily ration to all British warships. In 1795, Gilbert Blaine was appointed to the Sick and Hurt Board and used the results from Gardner’s experience to persuade the Admiralty to implement lemon juice as a daily ration for the entire Royal Navy fleet. Almost overnight, scurvy became a thing of the past. Over time, science identified that scurvy was not a disease but a deficiency in vitamin C caused by a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.
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Sailors – People who work on ships and travel across the sea. – In the 18th century, sailors often faced long journeys across the ocean.
Scurvy – A disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, leading to weakness and gum disease. – During long sea voyages, many sailors suffered from scurvy due to a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Diet – The kinds of food that a person or animal habitually eats. – The sailors’ diet on the ship mainly consisted of salted meat and hardtack.
Vitamin – Organic compounds that are essential for normal growth and nutrition, usually required in small quantities in the diet. – Vitamin C is crucial for preventing scurvy among sailors on long voyages.
Disease – A disorder or malfunction in a living organism that produces specific symptoms. – The spread of disease on ships was a major concern for sailors in the past.
Health – The state of being free from illness or injury. – Maintaining good health was challenging for sailors during long sea expeditions.
Navy – The branch of a nation’s armed services that conducts military operations at sea. – The British navy was instrumental in expanding the empire during the 18th century.
Citrus – A type of fruit that includes oranges, lemons, and limes, known for being rich in vitamin C. – Citrus fruits were essential in preventing scurvy among sailors.
Voyage – A long journey involving travel by sea or in space. – The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean took several months for the sailors.
Empire – A group of countries or regions that are controlled by one ruler or government. – The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires in ancient history.
