to the care of the sick, and practically the whole ship was given over
to them.” The first two flu cases on
board occurred October 7th.The first to die was Seaman E. L.
Williams on October 13th. Caperton later wrote: “By … the 11th, there were 418 cases of influenza in the flagship, so
that her activities for any duty were becoming handicapped. The seriousness of
the situation was cabled to the Department.
On the 14th of October 644 cases had been admitted to the sick list,
with about 350 more light ones not listed. One man died the day before. On the
15th three had died, the Commanding Officer, his heads of department and two
members of my staff were sick, while the disease raged unabated in Rio where
conditions defied description…. Conditions in the ship wererapidly becoming
worse. More than half of the hospital corps were ill, and help was commandeered
from all ratings and from the junior officers of the line. And the drizzle and
the rain which had set in during the early days of the epidemic continued
fitfully, rendering it difficult to find room for the cots of the sick who had
been kept on deck in the open, during the good weather. Ashore people died like
flies, and many lay in the streets for two or three days waiting interment,
even a hole in the corner of a trench. By the 18th, twelve of the 48 pneumonia
cases had died in the Pittsburgh. Further caskets could not be obtained ashore,
at any price, and the burial of our men became an urgent necessity. On the 21st
of October 16