DOMYN-JOHN

NAVY’S  FIRST  CORPSMAN  TO  BE  A  PRISONER OF WAR

A typical medical section aboard a U.S. Navy ship during the 1700’s was usually limited to two, perhaps three men, a physician who was called Surgeon and his assistant called Surgeon’s Mate who was usually also a trained physician.  Few things changed in medical techniques and organization between 1775 and 1814, the period covering America’s first naval wars.  Among the less dramatic change was the significant addition of an enlisted man to assist by undertaking any medical tasks that the Surgeon was too busy to perform, and more importantly in the care and feeding of injured sick crewmembers who were typically fed a simple daily ration of thick porridge or “loblolly” to hasten their recovery.  His typical duties included restraining patients during surgery, obtaining and cleaning surgical instruments, disposing of amputated limbs, and emptying and cleaning toilet utensils. 

By the late 1790’s the enlisted man performing these duties still had no title or job description but because of his work he had typically earned the nickname “Loblolly Boy.”  The nickname was in such common use for so many years that it became the official title in Navy Regulations of 1814 and was described in the regulations of 1818 as: “The Surgeon shall be allowed a faithful attendant to issue, under his direction, all supplies and provisions and hospital stores, and to attend the preparation of nourishment for the sick.”

Historical records reflect that one of the earliest documented Loblolly Boy in the Navy was John Domyn who was aboard the 36-gun frigate PHILADELPHIA.  Nothing concerning Domyn other than his name and duty assignment has survived except an unusual distinction.  PHILADELPHIA was launched in November 1799 and commissioned on April 5, 1800.  Her first assignment was service in the Quasi-War with France when she arrived in the West Indies where she reportedly captured five French armed vessels and recaptured six merchant ships that had fallen into French hands.

 By 1803 PHILADELPHIA had been sent during the First Barbary War to the Mediterranean where on October 31, 1803, she gave chase to a pirate ship but unfortunately ran aground on an uncharted reef two miles off Tripoli Harbor.  When all attempts to refloat the ship failed she was purposely set afire and all her weapons were thrown overboard before surrendering to Algerian pirates.  All of the PHILADELPHIA crewmembers, including Domyn became prisoners and remained captive until June 1805.  John Domyn thus gained the distinction of being the first Loblolly Boy to be a POW.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)