This is a report by Vice Admiral Gleaves on the Spanish Flu in the Atlantic from 1917-1919. It’s only 2,000,000 pages long. Shouldn’t take long for you to read it, right?
From the article:
In fitting out transport medical departments, no expense was spared to make them as near to being real hospitals as possible. Each ship was fitted with a surgeons’ examining room, dispensary, a laboratory, dental office, dressing room, operating room, special treatment room, sick bay and isolation ward. In addition to these, several dispensaries and dressing stations were established throughout the ship for minor cases, which the troop surgeons utilized for those patients not requiring sick bay treatment.
The Spanish Influenza Epidemic taxed the resources of the transport medical departments to the utmost. Although every effort was made to eliminate sick troops at the gangway, it was inevitable that large numbers of incipient cases were taken on board, and naturally the crowded berthing spaces favored contagion.
As an example, during the September, 1918, trip of the [transport, USS] George Washington, although 450 cases and suspects were landed before sailing, on the second day out there were 550 new cases on the sick list. Entire troop spaces were converted into hospitals. Strict regulations in regard to spraying noses and throats twice daily and the continual wearing of gauze coverings over the mouth and nose, except when eating, were rigidly enforced. The soldiers were kept in the open air as much as possible, while boxing bouts, band concerts and other amusements on deck were conducted to keep up morale. The result was gratifying and the epidemic was soon under control. Admissions to the sick list were on a rapidly decreasing scale and although there were 131 cases of pneumonia and 77 deaths before arrival in Brest [France], still there were only 101 additional cases for the hospital and the remainder of the troops went ashore cheering and in fighting trim. – article
I know we currently have one ship that has set an “at sea” record for reasons of safety for the crew and a desire to not spread the disease around. If, during this current epidemic, people were as easy to persuade to be careful, it might not have spread so quickly.
While the Spanish flu was not the same as the current Covid-19 bug, no one wanted to get it. Medicine then was so primitive compared to what we have now that, while that flu was not a death sentence in itself, a weakened immune system made the transmission from a sick patient to a healthy non-patient very likely to happen.
Those who pick up the Covid-19 bug now seem to be less afflicted by it, depending on where they are. When cold weather really does set in, we’ll see how things go. Meantime, enjoy the blast from the past with the report by VADM Gleaves. It’s only been slightly over a century.
2 MILLION?! Someone needs a better editor!
“Shouldn’t take long for you to read it, right?” Welp, I’m no Hondo on ciphering, them guzintas can be rough, but…a quick crunch of the numbers on a handy dandy little pocket calculator comes up with nearly 4 years…non-stop! 1 minute a page, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year. So if you only did 12 hour days, that would make it almost 8 years, or if you did 8 hour days would that be 12 years? I’ll leave it up to Hondo to check my figures…or not!
“…flu was not a death sentence into itself…” Maybe not, but damned if that whole “Over The Top Boys” was for many. So was the trench warfare that the Brits and Frenchies tried to get Pershing to continue. My Boy out in San Diego had a bug of undetermined type and origin around the FIRST (ht 2 R-D) of December. He and his Lady, both young and very healthy. It knocked them back abit and he told me to be aware if they ever started talking about a Corona Virus. Being not a fan of people in general and crowds specifically, it was not hard for me to do that whole “Social Distancing” thing immediately. Having a 90 day supply of consumable stores helped. So far so good. I might make it to being shot by that jealous husband or brother-n-law yet.
Here’s a nice little story on what Savannah GA went thru in 1820, an election and census year, when the pandemic of Yellow Fever hit. Kinda interesting and the house the doctor had is cool. Plus it’s not 2 million pages long and the little video is only a few minutes.
https://www.wsav.com/now/davenport-house-museum-offers-glimpse-at-1820s-savannah-for-200th-anniversary/
Found this tidbit reference the article Ex posted (Mason would be proud. I do believe Mason mentioned these brave Heroes in previous Valor segments).
Remember: Not all Battles are fought with Bullets and Bayonets:
“Influenza of 1918 (Spanish Flu) and the US Navy”:
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/i/influenza/influenza-of-1918-spanish-flu-and-the-us-navy.html
“Of the Heroes who treated these patients some made the ultimate sacrifice. Thirty-two were nurses, all of whom would be awarded the British Victoria Cross. Three of these women – Marie Louise Hidell (Naval Hospital Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Edna Place (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Lillian Murphy (Hampton Roads, Virginia) – were awarded the Navy Cross, posthumously.”
“Personnel Awarded the Navy Cross During the Influenza of 1918-1919”:
*Hidell, Marie Louise, Nurse, US Navy.
“For distinguished service and devotion to duty while serving at the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. During the epidemic of the influenza, worked day and night among the patients until stricken with the disease, as a result of which she lost her life on September 28, 1918.”
*McGuire, Lee W., Lieutenant Commander, US Navy.
“For distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving at the U. S. Naval Hospital, Chelsea, Mass., in developing a convalescent influenza-pneumonia serum, which has proved of very great value in reducing mortality from 38 to 4 per cent, and for general service at the hospital.”
*Miller, Carey F., Hospital Apprentice First Class, US Navy.
“For distinguished service and devotion to duty while serving in the Naval Base Hospital at Hampton Roads. During an epidemic of influenza he worked day and night amongst the patients until stricken with the disease as a result of which he lost his life.”
*Murphy, Lillian M., Nurse, US Navy.
“For distinguished service and devotion to duty while serving at the Naval Base Hospital, Hampton Roads, Va. During the epidemic of influenza, worked day and night among the patients until stricken with the disease, as a result of which she lost her life.”
*Place, Edna E., Nurse, US Navy.
“For distinguished service and devotion to duty, while serving at the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa. During the epidemic of influenza, worked day and night among the patients until stricken with the disease, as a result of which she lost her life on September 28, 1918.”
*Poyer, John M., Commander, US Navy.
“For exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as governor of American Samoa, for wise and successful administration of his office and especially for the extraordinarily successful measures by which American Samoa was kept absolutely immune from the epidemic of influenza at a time when in the neighboring islands of the Samoan group more than 10,000 deaths occurred, and when the percentage of deaths throughout the Polynesian Islands as a group, is reported to have ranged from 30 to 40 per cent of the population.”
*Redden, William R., Lieutenant (Medical Corps), US Navy.
“For distinguished service in the line of his profession while serving at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Chelsea, Mass., in developing a convalescent influenza-pneumonia serum, which has proven of very great value in reducing mortality from 38 to 4 per cent, and for general service at the hospital.”
Included in the document link is a list of Nurses who received a Letter of Commendation for Service for their heroric effort in fighting the Spanish Flu.
Never Forget Those Who Sacrificed Their Lives To Help Others.
Thank You, Ex-Ph2, for sharing.
(BTW, is the report really that long? Asking For A Friend)
😉😎
1918 Flu was vastly more lethal than Covid19. It also preferentially targeted young-healthy folks, which maximized societal impact. This current dem-panic thing thing is a pale shadow of real pandemics of the past.