Life at Sea: The Unsung Heroes of Ocean Liners – Ship Crew, Roles, and Daily Challenges

Ocean-Going Steamers as Disseminators of Disease - 1884

This article from 1884 in The British Medical Journal described the working conditions of the ship's sergeons.

These appointments are practically beyond the reach of outsiders. It can be only very rarely that one falls in their way. But should any of our readers wish to persevere, she had better write to the secretaries of several of the leading lines of steamers.

The Hard Life and Work of a Steamship Stoker - 1900

A stoker works four hours at a stretch, and during that time the temperature of his surroundings varies from 120 degrees to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. One stoker usually has four furnaces to attend to, and while feeding one furnace a man has to be extremely careful or his arm may be burned by the furnace behind him.

The Work of the Ships' Surgeon on a Steamship - 1900

The duties of a ship surgeon while at sea are a combination of those of a doctor and a sanitary inspector As a health officer he must visit every part of the ship , to see that everything is clean; disinfect, if that is necessary; watch the food that is prepared for the crew, the steerage and cabin passengers. All the steerage passengers pass before the ship surgeon as they go on board. If there is any just cause why they should not be taken, they are sent back.

Steamship Stewarding - Steward's Handbook - 1903

Provides an outline of the crew of the steamship City of New York from commander to donkey man. Provisions of a typical voyage are also listed.

How Steamship Operations Are Organized - Job Descriptions and Departments - 1904

While the steamship company occupies a vast field of operation, its work at the same time is one of infinite details. As in every other business, it is upon the proper organization and administration of these details that its success depends.

Stewards of an Ocean Liner Above and Below Decks - 1904

About eight thousand stewards are afloat on the rolling seas of the broad Atlantic at this minute—fully half of them employed on the great ships of the International Mercantile Marine Company.

Trained Nurses on Ocean Liners - 1905

Many trained nurses on this side of the Atlantic have applied for a position on these liners, but at each of the steamship companies' offices are told that skilled nursing is not required and that the ordinary stewardess is competent to cope with seasickness without complications,

Ship Surgeons On Transatlantic Ocean Liners - 1905

Ship Surgeons On Transatlantic Ocean Liners provides insight and short biographical accounts of Ship Surgeons from the early 1900s. Dr. J. Fourness Brice, Dr. R. Lloyd Parker and Dr. O'Loughlin.

Practicing Medicine on Board Steamships: The Busy Life of the Surgeon on a Transatlantic Liner - 1905

A very general misconception seems to exist among the medical profession and indeed among many of the laity also, as regards the professional attainments of surgeons on the transatlantic steamships.

An Ocean Liner's Crew - Working on a Steamship - 1906

WORK on an ocean steamship never ends, for no sooner does she reach her moorings in New York, Liverpool or Hamburg than preparations begin for the next voyage.

Medical Arangements on Passenger Ships - 1906

A ship can be regarded as a small town particularly liable to infection, where there is an abnormally high proportion of serious medical and surgical cases.

Inspection of the Ship and Crew Before Sailing - 1908

The travelling public knows that the owners of the respective lines spare no effort to maintain their high reputation. The Board of Trade inspector knows this too, but with the Australian emigrant on his hands he leaves nothing to chance.

Life On Board An Ocean Liner - 1909

The "Baltic" is certificated by the British and American maritime authorities to carry 426 first-class passengers, 420 second, and 1,195 third, and a crew of 370; in all, 2,411 "souls," as the expression is among seamen.

Steamship Crew Organization for Comfort At Sea - 1911

With the development of the great liners, however, it is being understood that an ocean steamship is really a great floating hotel.

Surgical Sociology: The Surgeon at Sea - 1913

At the present time, many of the larger steamship lines give a salary of fifty dollars a month to the ship's doctor, in addition to the opportunity of charging small fees to the passengers of the first and second class.

The Crews of the Ships and Home Office - 1920

Many genealogist are searching for their ancestors who served as crew members on board a ship of one of the steamship lines. This extract deals with the practical business aspects of the loading and operations of ships as a commercial enterprise. You will be able to determine where your ancestor worked as well as what his (or her) job entailed.

Crew of an Ocean Liner - 1921

In the "good old days" of the sailing ship, when passenger-carrying was merely incidental to the principal business of a voyage, which was to transport cargo, a ship's crew was made up chiefly of sailors. Today the reverse is the rule. Steam automatically reduced the number of sailors required to handle a ship and introduced the engineer and his helpers in the engine and boiler rooms, who in time outnumbered the sailors.