The London-based newspaper, The Daily Advertiser, printed on 20 August 1756, the following:
We hear that Admiral Boscawen having wrote to the Lords of the Admiralty, to acquaint them of great Healthiness of the Crew of the Royal George, owing to Dr. Hale's on board that Ship, and the different Condition of those on board every other Ship in his Fleet, which have had from forty to a hundred and twenty sick at a Time, their Lordships have been pleased to order that Dr. Hale's Ventilators shall be placed on board every Ship in his Majesty's Navy. It is remarkable, that a few Years ago a Ship was fitted out with one of these Ventilators by Way of Experiment, but the Captain reported on his Return, that none of his Men had been sick during the Voyage, and therefore he had no Opportunity of judging of the Usefulness of it; but as it was a very unhealthy Voyage, his Men continuing all the Way in Health was certainly sufficient Demonstration of the great Utility of this Invention.
This 1756 admiralty dispatch by Admiral Edward Boscawen needs context. The year prior, Boscawen lost over 2,000 men to illness aboard his fleet. Sent to intercept a French fleet resupplying Canada, the admiral was only able to halt prevent two of France’s ships, the Alcide and the Lys. Naval historians from Corbett to Baugh all point out, and rightly so, that the admiral’s fleet was hit with a disease that took a terrible toll on manning levels and readiness. The logbook of the HMS Torbay, Boscawen’s flagship, reeks of death entries. When Boscawen’s fleet moored at Halifax in July of 1755, it took nearly five days to remove the sick and dead. When Boscawen returned to England in mid-November, he had left half of his fleet back at Nova Scotia. To make matters worse, Boscawen’s fleet was only one of many that found dead jack tars by the hundreds.
Dr. Stephen Hale’s ventilators, to the left a bellow with a hand pump, to the right a windmill. Image source: “Ventilation apparatus Wellcome,” Wikimendia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ventilation_apparatus_Wellcome_L0040397.jpg)
To counter, the Admiralty Office requested an experiment. A single fleet would sail with two or three of its ships fitted with Dr. Stephen Hale’s ventilators, a comparison would then be made. Admiral Edward Boscawen quickly volunteered. Done with raiding French commerce off of France, Boscawen pulled into Portsmouth in August and reported the good news. The Admiralty Office likely “leaked” Boscawen’s report to the Daily Advertiser.
But this was not the first time the Royal Navy had experimented with a Hale ventilator. In 1743, during the War of Austrian Succession, a ventilator was placed aboard a Royal Navy vessel. But, the captain claimed that since none became sick that the experiment was a failure. How the Admiralty Office overlooked this instance is still a mystery. However, on the basis of Boscawen’s report, the RN did order ventilators to be fitted on all ships during the remainder of the Seven Years’ War.