Details

Ship's Surgeon Amputation Set

ED.CS.2012.7.1

Evans (Manufacturer)

The case of amputation instruments used by Alexander Jack during the early 1800s, an RCSEd Diplomat (1801). Jack was ship's surgeon aboard the HMS Shannon and these instruments were used by him in the battle between the Shannon and the American frigate the USS Chesapeake on June 1st 1813 during the War of 1812. The battle between the two ships lasted only fifteen minutes and at a combined cost of in the region of 225 dead or wounded it was one of the bloodiest single ship actions of the age of sail. The instruments are stamped with the maker's mark of Evans, a London-based company started in 1676. This set is probably from the late eighteenth century based on the markings. The set contains: An amputating saw; a metacarpel saw; three amputating knives; two pairs of sliding artery forceps; three curved suture needles; two Petit's spiral tourniquets; bone forceps; and a hooked needle.