Sailors in the Caribbean

Quick question for those in the know: How brutal was yellow fever on the ships that traded Hispaniola? I've been reading a ton about the Haitian Revolution, and the effect that "general" yellow fever had on the French troops. However, very little if anything mentions the fleets of merchants that traded with the island. American ships regularly patrolled the area, as did Spanish and British, so was yellow fever as big of a deal to the navy as it was to the army? I would think it would be less with the fewer mosquitos out in the open sea but I honestly don't know. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
 
Quick question for those in the know: How brutal was yellow fever on the ships that traded Hispaniola? I've been reading a ton about the Haitian Revolution, and the effect that "general" yellow fever had on the French troops. However, very little if anything mentions the fleets of merchants that traded with the island. American ships regularly patrolled the area, as did Spanish and British, so was yellow fever as big of a deal to the navy as it was to the army? I would think it would be less with the fewer mosquitos out in the open sea but I honestly don't know. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
How long are you exposed to mosquitoes?

If you're a merchant sailor and only spend a day or two in port and don't go into the interior, you don't get bit much.
If you are an army soldier trudging through swamps, you get bit a lot.
Naval sailors would be inbetween, spending longer in unhealthy ports as the ships have to be where facilities and/or threat are. IMO.
 
How long are you exposed to mosquitoes?

If you're a merchant sailor and only spend a day or two in port and don't go into the interior, you don't get bit much.
If you are an army soldier trudging through swamps, you get bit a lot.
Naval sailors would be inbetween, spending longer in unhealthy ports as the ships have to be where facilities and/or threat are. IMO.

More like a week or two in port, this is the era of break bulk cargoes and labour was at a premium in the Caribbean so unloading and loading took awhile.

However as you state there is a big difference to being inland and on the coasts. Mosquitoes tend only to bite in relatively still air and coastal ports see more wind.
 

Deleted member 67076

Very bad inland, not much of a problem as one would expect in the mountains or coasts.

You had a decently large population of mostly European descent (30-40k by 1750) in Santo Domingo clustered around the Cibao highlands for this reason.
 
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