London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of London 1904
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Port of London]
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42
These things are so obvious that it is expected, in the case of new vessels
especially, that some attention should be paid to them.
The Board of Trade issues certain instructions to their Surveyors which, if
strictly carried out, would, I have little doubt, cause some improvement, but
it is not unusual, even in new vessels, to find that apparently little attention
has been paid to these details.
In support of these remarks, I have caused observations to be kept upon
modern vessels visiting the Port, with a view to ascertaining to what extent
the accommodation provided for the crews complied with the minimum
requirements of the Merchant Shipping Act.
With regard to lighting, the test adopted by the Board of Trade is that with
one-third of the light closed it shall be possible to read the print of an
ordinary newspaper in any part of the space, of course during the daytime.
Inspector Romeril, your senior Sanitary Inspector, has taken much interest
in the question, and the measurements, &c., given have been made by him.
The following is a result of observations made on four vessels constructed in recent years:—
| Reference No. | Registered Tonnage | When Built. | Situation of Crews' Quarters. | Gross Cubic Contents. | Nett Superficial Floor Space. | Gross Area of Light Apertures. | Number of Occupants. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Side. | Starboard Side. | Port. | Starboard. | Port. | Starboard. | Certified for. | Occupying. | ||||||
| 1 | 3592 | 1899 | Forecastle | Port. | Starboard. | Port. | Starboard. | ||||||
| 852.7 | 852.7 | 125.4 | 125.4 | 100.5 | 100.5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| 2* | 3942 | 1904 | Forecastle | 1547 | 1844 | 194 | 236 | 190.8 | 190.8 | 12 | 16 | — | — |
| 3 | 3910 | 1902 | Forecastle, | 1902.8 | 1589.6 | 128 | 116 | 192.4 | 153.9 | 16 | 10 | 15 | 10 |
| 4 | 4421 | 1901 | Forecastle | 1787.4 | 1787.4 | 116 | 116 | 87.8 | 87.8 | 14 | 8 | 14 | 10 |
* Of this forecastle I append a plan, drawn approximately to a scale of ¼-inch to 1 foot, illustrating the general arrangement
of the crew's quarters in this part of the vessel. This has been selected as being the newest vessel, and typical of the others.
In this way it is possible to compare the amount of air space, floor space and
light which is considered sufficient for seamen on modern vessels with that
which is considered essential in dwellings on shore.
It might be well to say here that this is not a selection of the worst cases,
but is typical of cases which may be met with every day.
In the case of the first vessel it will be found that if the forecastle were
occupied by the number of persons for which it is certified by the Board of
Trade, that the occupants would have each about 85 cubic feet of air space
and 12 square feet of floor space.