Autopsies were being performed on the dead infants, whose identities have been withheld. Food, water, mild, infants’ formulae and other supplies aboard the vessel were being tested.

The Zebulon Vance brought 431 war brides and children from Le Havre. The outbreak was said to have occurred during the last few days at sea.

The surviving sick babies were taken to the Fort Hamilton Army Hospital in Brooklyn.

A father of one of the infants, Dr. John Battenfield of Norman, Okla., Veteran of overseas service and director of health at the University of Oklahoma, said an epidemic of diarrhea struck the babies. He laid the couse to “poor sanitation” aboard the vessel.