In premodern and early modern times life aboard seagoing ships was always characterized by formidable challenges. The ever-extending sailing times in the Age of Sail opened an entirely new and often disastrous chapter of deprivation, disease and death at sea. Lack of hygienic principles and balanced diets caused high mortality rates due to epidemics as well as nutrition-related diseases, among which the vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy was one of the most gruesome. In retrospect, avoiding scurvy could only have been possible by maintaining regular consumption of vegetables or fruit products during the voyages, but basic European shipboard diets usually did not include such a component. Nevertheless, the staggering onslaught of scurvy forced seafaring authorities to start experimenting with vegetable-inclusive diets for sailors.