On Sept. 10, 1918, two hundred sick sailors were admitted to the new emergency hospital. Meanwhile, Chelsea Naval Hospital, just north of Charlestown, quickly filled with influenza patients, two-dozen of whom had already died from pneumonia caused by severe cases of influenza.

The approximately 2,500 non-ill sailors at Commonwealth Pier were relocated to tent barracks at the muster field in Framingham as a means of removing them from harm’s way.