it's so ironic that people would have fallen prey to a disease that is so easily mitigated. Vitamin-C is one of the most abundant vitamins out there. Lemons and oranges get all the credit for vitamin C but actually, there's countless examples of plant based foods that have Vitamin-C: just check the vitamin C radio box: https://kale.world/c

Here's a short list: red/green peppers spinach watercress pok choi kale brussel sprouts chard cabbage peas

Just about any leafy green vegetable.

Heck, they could have ate the weeds growing in someone's garden: Purslane, fireweed, oxalys, and they would've had more than enough vitamin C.

i think it's the nature of being out at sea only eating processed reserves that made them so vulnerable to the disease.