The sailors and even officers in the british navy could expect a harsh life aboard these mighty ships.
There was always constant threat of attack by enemies and pirates. The surgical aspect of these conditions could
be looked at this way:
A sailor could expect if he was to be injured, he would probably die from cannon fire, if the cannon hit him. He
could also expect to be hurt from splinters from the shatered wooden hull. Plus there was the threat of sinking, which
meant most likely you would drown.
If you were injured aboard a war ship, you would mostly likely have to get the injured part of you amputated. There
are many tales of loose arms and legs, plus blood, thrown around the surgical areas of ship. How disgusting!
Then there was disease. The most common disease was scurvy. Which resulted from the lack of vitamin
C. It was hard to cure it or even prevent it on ships, since could only keep fruit fresh for some time; running out
was also common when on long journeys. Because of this. Scurvy was a horrible but common threat to those onboard.
Then there were rats...
