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During 1918's final four months an extraordinarily virulent influenza strain blazed across the Globe, killing as many as a hundred million people, six-percent of the World's population. Among them were up to 600,000 Americans, a death rate about a tenth that of the World as a whole, but sufficient to overwhelm much of the Nation's mortuary capacity. Compounding that problem, and the vast number of sick people that simultanously nearly crushed the medical system, was the fact that in most places the bulk of the illnesses and deaths happened over only a few weeks. The victims included a disproportionate number of young adults, the group also most devastated by the First World War. Only the relatively transitory nature of this great pandemic prevented the kinds of social disruption that characterized the 14th Century Black Death.
The immense 1918 plague, product of the genetically unstable influenza virus, was facilitated by the mechanisms of an intense European war and the efficiency of contemporary mass transportation. It began, at the latest, in the winter of 1918, sickening millions over the following two seasons. Relatively few died during this time, and those who recovered were blessed with a degree of future immunity, but some isolated outbreaks were very deadly. Over the summer the highly contageous, if "weak" flu virus merged with the rare killing version. In late August and early September a new type struck simultaneously in several widely separated places, from which railways and steamships carried it deep into continents and across oceans.
Boston, Massachusetts, Naval facilities suffered one of these initial outbreaks, and from there the disease moved rapidly inland and down the coast. In local epidemics lasting a few weeks to a month, what was then called "Spanish Influenza" sickened a large percentage of the Navy's people. From 31 August to 31 December 1918 it left over four thousand dead, nearly one percent of the Sailors and Marines then on active duty, and about double the number killed in World War I combat. Generally, the epidemic was most severe ashore, especially at training facilities. Worst hit was Great Lakes, Illinois, with more than 900 deaths, nearly 500 in just one late September week. Afloat, many ships were afflicted and some disabled. Notable among the latter was the armored cruiser Pittsburgh, stationed at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the majority of her 1100-man crew sick and 58 dead. The patrol vessel Yacona had 95 cases, more than eighty percent of her small complement.
Though not disabled, the Navy's transports were hit hard, with fatalities running expecially high among troops en route to France. The huge Leviathan, with more 9000 on board, had 2000 ill and 91 dead during a voyage that began on 29 September 1918. The much smaller Siboney lost 38 men in an early October trip. Among the many other badly impacted transports were Agamemnon, America, Northern Pacific and Von Steuben. The outbreaks on transports took place just as the U.S. was pushing troops into France at a rapid pace, striving to maintain military momemtum during the war-winning fall offensive. So important did this seem that it was officially stated that the lives lost to influenza on transports "contributed just as directly to the cause as any that were sacrificed amid actual scenes of battle". Later in October, though, with victory in the offing, it was deemed prudent to suspend much trans-Atlantic troop movement.
1918's influenza hit its typical victim suddenly, and some went from seemingly good health to death in a matter of hours. Others lingered for days or weeks. Masks, respiratory sprays and vaccinations were widely used as preventative measures, with but modest effect. Quarantine, especially in communities that could be isolated completely, seemed to work better. American Samoa, under U.S. Navy administration, closed itself off totally and escaped, even though the disease killed nearly twenty percent of those living in nearby Western Samoa. Among treatments for those afflicted, only nursing care was of much value, and, like their military and civil counterparts, Navy Nurses worked to exhaustion. Many of these first Navy women lost their lives in this battle, and three were awarded the Navy Cross for their heroism.
Though the epidemic appeared to be essentially over by the end of 1918, it recurred in 1919, but in steadily weakening form. USS Leviathan was hit again in February and March, along with other ships and stations. In Paris, President Woodrow Wilson was sick in bed during a critical phase of the peace negotiations. The 1918 influenza virus had finally run its course by the mid-1920s, and more recent Global outbreaks involved less brutal forms. However, despite the vast scientific and medical progress of the subsequent decades, Humanity is still haunted by the threat of such a pandemic, caused by yet another highly contageous and deadly strain of flu.
Source note: This longer than normal introductory text is largely based on information gleaned from two books and one official report. These are: John M. Barry's "The Great Influenza" (2004); Alfred W. Crosby's "America's Forgotten Pandemic" (Second Edition, 2003); and the "Annual Reports of the Navy Department for the Fiscal Year 1919" (1920).
This page features, all the views we have concerning the Global influenza epidemic of 1918.
for additional information on this subject, see the Navy
Department Library entry:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. |
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Photo #: NH 60309 U.S. Naval Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana Masked medical personnel giving treatment to an influenza patient, circa autumn 1918. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41730 Liberty Loan Parade at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28 September 1918 Naval Aircraft Factory float, featuring the hull of a F5L patrol seaplane, going south on Broad Street, escorted by Sailors with rifles. Note the crowd of onlookers. This parade, with its associated dense gatherings of people, contributed significantly to the massive outbreak of influenza which struck Philadelphia a few days later. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97241 "Say 'Ah-ah-h'" Cartoon by E. Verdier, concerning the distractive effects of a Yeoman (F) on an Officer, published as cover art for the October 1918 issue of "Ukmyh Kipzy Puern", the magazine of the U.S Naval Cable Censor Office, San Francisco, California. The magazine's title is in Bently's Code, and translates as "The Monthly'Gob'". The cartoon, and the face mask drawn in upper right, may refect countermeasures against the 1918-19 influenza epidemic. Collection of Ora Hirsch Merritt, 1968. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 111KB; 540 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 103264 USS Siboney (ID # 2999) Boxing match on the ship's forecastle, while she was at sea in the Atlantic Ocean, transporting troops to or from France in 1918-1919. Spectators are wearing masks as a precaution against the spread of influenza. Halftone reproduction of a photograph, printed on page 24 of "Historical Souvenir of the U.S.S. Siboney", published by the ship's crew in 1919 as a momento of her service. Collection of Captain Clarence S. Williams, USN. Donated by Mrs. Clarence S. Williams, 1975. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 93KB; 465 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41872 Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California Scene in "D" Ward of the Station Hospital, showing sneeze screens erected around beds. Photographed during World War I, probably in the latter part of 1918 when measures were being taken against the spread of influenza. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 470 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41871 Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California Crowded sleeping area extemporized on the Drill Hall floor of the Main Barracks, with sneeze screens erected as a precaution against the spread of influenza. Photographed during World War I, probably in the latter part of 1918. Signs on the wall at left forbid spitting on the floor. See Photo # NH 41871-A for a cropped version of this image, emphasizing the nearer of these signs. Note that bunk headings are in the same direction, as opposed to the alternating headings seen in Photo # NH 2654, which was taken in the same location, but without sneeze screens in place. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41871-A Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California "Do Not Spit on the Floor" sign on the balcony edge of the Drill Hall floor of the Main Barracks, which is in use as an extemporized sleeping area. Sneeze screens are erected around bunks as a precaution against the spread of influenza. Photographed during World War I, probably in the latter part of 1918. This image is cropped from Photo # NH 41871. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 2654 Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California Crowded sleeping area extemporized on the Drill Hall floor of the Main Barracks, during World War I. Note bunks arranged in columns, with alternating headings. Signs on the wall at left forbid spitting on the floor to prevent the spread of disease. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 485 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41731-A Influenza Precaution Sign Mounted on a wood storage crib at the Naval Aircraft Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 19 October 1918. As the sign indicates, the "Spanish Influenza" was then extremely active in Philadelphia, with many victims in the Philadelphia Navy Yard and the Naval Aircraft Factory. Note the sign's emphasis on the epidemic's damage to the war effort. This image is cropped from Photo # NH 41731. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 132KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions. |
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