During the First World War, many hospital ships were attacked, sometimes deliberately and sometimes as a result of mistaken identity. They were sunk by either torpedo, mine or surface attack. They were easy targets, since they carried hundreds of wounded soldiers from the front lines.
Background A hospital ship (HS) is designated for primary function as a medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces or navies of various countries around the world, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. Hospital ships were covered under the Hague Convention X of 1907. Article four of the Hague Convention X outlined the restrictions for a hospital ship: The ship should give medical assistance to wounded personnel of all nationalities The ship must not be used for any military purpose Ships must not interfere or hamper enemy combatant vessels Belligerents as designated by the Hague Convention can search any hospital ship to investigate violations of the above restrictions. If any of the restrictions were violated, the ship could be determined as an enemy combatant and be sunk. Investigators from neutral countries like Spain were allowed to inspect hospital ships to confirm that Article Four was not being violated.
The high command of Imperial Germany viewed Allied hospital ships as violating the Hague Convention and ordered its submarine forces to target them as part of their Unrestricted submarine warfare on Allied shipping. Even with the inspections from neutral countries the German High command alleged that hospital ships were violating Article Four by transporting able-bodied soldiers to the battleground. The biggest hospital ship sunk by either mine or torpedo in the First World War was Britannic, the sister of Olympic and the ill-fated Titanic. Britannic hit a mine on November 21, 1916; 30 people were killed, but the rest of the crew and passengers were able to escape. The largest loss of life caused by the sinking of a hospital ship would be Llandovery Castle. The ship was hit by a torpedo from the German U-boat on June 27, 1918. Shortly thereafter, the submarine surfaced and shot at most of the survivors; only 24 were rescued. After the war, the captain of U-86, Lieutenant Helmut Patzig, and two of his lieutenants were charged with war crimes and arraigned at the Leipzig war crimes trials, but Patzig disappeared, and the two lieutenants both escaped after being convicted and sentenced to prison.pg 312 - The Allies were not the only ones who had their ships attacked at the beginning of the war, the German hospital ship Ophelia was seized by British naval forces as a spy ship and near the close of the war the Austrian hospital ship Baron Call was unsuccessfully attacked by torpedo on October 29, 1918.
Hospital ships sunk
Name Image Nationality Date Location of wreck Cause Lives lost Note UK One mile east of Folkestone Gate 134 UK 6 miles off Start Point "Asturias" was beached near Bolt Head, but the damage was so extensive that she was declared a total loss. The government then bought and salvaged her, and she became a floating ammunition hulk at Plymouth for two years. 35
- Call number: SRLF_UCSB:LAGE-315170 Formerly known as the German hospital ship Ophelia, seized by the British and changed to Huntley UK off the Boulogne LV. 2 UK Aegean sea 30 UK Mediterranean Sea 7 HMHS Donegal UK 19 miles south of the Dean lightship on passage Le Havre for Southampton 40 HS Elektra Austria-Hungary Off Cape Planka Torpedoed by French submarine Ampère. Out of service until early Sep 1916; returned to her owner 04 Dec 1916 2 HMHS Galeka UK French coast, near Le Havre Struck a mine laid by 19 UK Bristol Channel Glenart Castle hit a mine between Havre and Southampton on January 3, 1917 but did not sink and was able to make it to port for repairs 162 UK en route from Le Havre to SouthamptonShip was raised, salvaged and returned to service in 1919; in the Second World War she was sunk by in 1942 3 Netherlands 21 miles East of Leman lightship 7 UK English Channel 40 Canada Portuguese Cove, Halifax Harbour Grounded out due to a pilot error in heavy fog 1 Canada off southern Ireland 234 Italy Off Cape Laghi, Durazzo, Albania 33 HS Oceania Austria-Hungary Between Cape Rodoni and Durazzo Mined and beached near Cape Rondoni, and on October 15, 1918 was blown up by the Austrians to avoid falling into Italian hands. ? HS Portugal (Португаль) Russia (French crew, Russian medical staff) Near Rize Province off the Turkish coast in the Black Sea 1916 New York Times article claims that it was sunk by a Turkish sub 90 - Call number: SRLF_UCLA:LAGE-3563453 UK 13 miles off Hartland Point, UK 4 HMHS Rohilla UK Saltwick Nab, one mile south of Whitby Struck Whitby Rock 84 UK near Le Havre, France 130 German Empire Dar es Salaam harbour, East Africa Sunk by gunfire from the British warships HMS Vengeance and HMS Challenger ? HS Tirol Austria-Hungary Off Durazzo Mined. Returned to service 07 Oct 1916 40 HS Vpered (Вперёд)Also transcribed as Vperiode, Vperyod, or Vperiod, sometimes mistranscribed with an l instead of i Imperial Russia In the Black Sea, between Batoum and the Rize Province off the Turkish coast 1916 New York Times article claims that it was sunk by a Turkish sub 7 - Call number: SRLF_UCSB:LAGE-315170П.Г.Усенко (P.G.Usenko), IСТОРIЇ ВЕЛИКОЇ ВIЙНИ 1914–1917 рр. НА ЧОРНОМУ МОРI (From the history of the Great War of the 1914-1917 on the Black Sea). Page 80. English Channel 123
See also List of hospital ships sunk in World War II
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- Total pages: 546