Merchant corvette María Pita (1803)
The corvette María Pita was one of the ships used by the Balmís Expedition (Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition).
In 1796, the English physician Jenner discovered that the vaccine smallpox (later called "vaccine") protected against smallpox. Although he did not confirm this until 1801, rumors had been circulating and immunization had begun in Europe, and in 1800 vaccination began in the United States. However, it was difficult to transport the vaccines: the preparations lasted only a few days, forcing the use of sick cows.
However, in Meso and South America there were hardly any cattle, and the indigenous people were very vulnerable to smallpox. Balmís persuaded King Charles IV of Spain (who had lost a daughter to smallpox years earlier) to finance a sanitary expedition to vaccinate the people of his empire. The method of transport was to take twenty-two orphans and pass the vaccine from arm to arm. The orphans were subsequently adopted by American families.
The merchant corvette María Pita was selected for the expedition, which carried the orphans, Balmís and the nurse Isabel Zendal, in what was the first international sanitary expedition. A British safe conduct was obtained (Spain and England were at war) and the corvette visited the Canary Islands, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico. The María Pita returned to Spain, managing to escape from an English corsair (who did not respect the safe conduct). Nothing more is known about the corvette.
Subsequently, Balmís and his assistants toured the Spanish possessions in America. Balmís then went on to the Philippines, taking another twenty-five orphans with him. After starting vaccination in the Philippines, he moved on to Canton to spread the vaccine in China. On his return trip, he stopped in Saint Helen island, in spite of the war, to continue spreading the vaccine. Balmís returned to Spain in 1806, to return to Mexico in 1810. It is difficult to know how many people Balmís saved. In Cuba alone, he vaccinated a quarter of a million people. Unfortunately, the Napoleonic wars caused him to be unjustly forgotten. Only recently has his work been recognized, and Spanish hospitals have been named after Balmís and Zendal.
There is no reliable documentation on the María Pita, except that she had a length of one hundred Burgos feet (of 0.278 cm) and displaced two hundred tons. A illustration was published in 1853, but I do not know on what it may have been based. A model of the frigate is in the naval museum in La Coruña, and kits have also been built, but they are based on other corvettes of the period. A recent painting is based on the models. The 1853 drawing seems to show a sculpture of the Corunna heroine Maria Pita. Some kits show decorations more typical of a war frigate, which are not seen in that 1852 illustration. The drawing shows portas, but they were probably not real, but painted to discourage the corsairs. IIsn’t known how it was painted, but it is likely that the colors were similar to those of the Spanish Armada.
I apologize for my mediocre English. I hope it is understood.