We all know about jet lag due to the rapid change in time zones vs. our natural body clocks associated with air travel, but what about the somewhat slower transition when travelling by ship? It seems like a fast transatlantic steamship passage would still be quick enough to mess with your internal rhythms.
Are there many references to this phenomenon in the literature/letters/etc of the day? How did people deal with it? Did "ship time" adjust regularly during the voyage or all at once on arrival?
I was listening to Hardcore History today and a reference to troop ships coming from North America made me wonder this...
Thanks!
The earliest reference to jet lag that I know of was Alcock and Brown's transatlantic flight.
Flying the Atlantic in Sixteen Hours, 1920
"In our eastward flight of 2,000 miles we had overtaken time, in less than the period between one sunset and another, to the extent of three and a half hours. Our physical systems having accustomed themselves to habits regulated by the clock of Newfoundland, we were reluctant to rise at 7 A.M.; for our subconsciousness suggested that it was but 3:30 A.M. ''This difficulty of adjustment to the sudden change in time lasted for several days. Probably it will be experienced by all passengers traveling on the rapid trans-ocean air services of the future - those who complete a westward journey becoming early risers without effort, those who land after an eastward flight becoming unconsciously lazy in the mornings, until the jolting effect of the dislocation wears off, and habit has accustomed itself to the new conditions.''