Red cliffs of Goodrington - watercolour

Watercolour
Disease in the Georgian fleet was one of the greatest threats to life, and much of our knowledge of disease and how to prevent and cure it has been shared from the records of that time.
The essay “Medicina Nautica” written by Thomas Trotter Physician to the Fleet, on the Diseases of Seamen and Health in His Majesty’s Fleet, published in 1797; covers most aspects over 3 years. During 1782 many ships had epidemics of diseases, such as scurvy, catarrh (influenza as coined by the Italians) and typhus. Virtually rendering many ships inactive, some ships had 200 men infected, the fleet was in danger of collapse. Ships were contained breeding grounds and needed places to treat infected sailors in isolation and clear the ships. Dr Thomas Trotter, set up a naval hospital in a large house near the beach at Goodrington as one such facility and ships put into Torbay to clear the ships of infected men and to smoke the ships with sulphur and scrub with vinegar, (HMS Fortitude was mentioned as needing to take 160 men ashore). This prevented the overcrowding of the naval hospital at Dartmouth. There was a graveyard at Goodrington that washed away in a storm next to the hospital and now there is a memorial stone in the park area.