The health of nine Royal Naval Arctic crews, 1848 to 1854

Implications for the lost Franklin Expedition

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9220437
AutoresKeith Millar (0000-0003-0235-7014, Gartnavel General Hospital), Adrian W Bowman, Adrian Bowman (0000-0002-5729-4631, University of Glasgow), W J Battersby (University of Glasgow), William Battersby, Richard R Welbury, Richard Welbury (0000-0002-9322-2440, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow)
Año2016
Volumen52
Número4
Páginas423-441
Fecha de publicación2016-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolar Record (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0032-2474 • E-ISSN: 1475-3057
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0032247416000176
OpenAlexW2332945503
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas10
Referencias citadas60

Medical factors including tuberculosis, scurvy, lead poisoning and botulism have been proposed to explain the high death rate prior to desertion of the ships on Sir John Franklin's expedition of 1845–1848 but their role remains unclear because the surgeons’ Sick books which recorded illness on board have eluded discovery. In their absence, this study examines the Sick books of Royal Naval search squadrons sent in search of Franklin, and which encountered similar conditions to his ships, to consider whether their morbidity and mortality might reflect that of the missing expedition. The Sick books of HMS Assistance, Enterprise, Intrepid, Investigator, Pioneer and Resolute yielded 1,480 cases that were coded for statistical analysis. On the basis of the squadrons’ patterns of illness it was concluded that Franklin's crews would have suffered common respiratory and gastro-intestinal disorders, injuries and exposure and that deaths might have occurred from respiratory, cardiovascular and tubercular conditions. Scurvy occurred commonly and it was shown that the method of preparing ‘antiscorbutic’ lemon juice for the search squadrons and Franklin's ships would have reduced its capacity to prevent the disease but there were no grounds to conclude that scurvy was significant at the time of deserting the ships. There was no clear evidence of lead poisoning despite the relatively high level of lead exposure that was inevitable on ships at that time. There was no significant difference between the deaths of non-officer ranks on Franklin's ships and several of the search ships. The greater number of deaths of Franklin's officers was proposed to be more probably a result of non-medical factors such as accidents and injuries sustained while hunting and during exploration

Archaeology · Disease · Officer · Scurvy · Demography · History · Injury Epidemiology and Prevention · Medicine · Occupational Health and Performance · Spaceflight effects on biology