Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship 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. [ [http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=hospital%20ship Hospital Ship] (definition via WordNet, Princeton University)] Firing on a hospital ship is generally considered a war crime.

History

On 8 December 1798, unfit for service as a warship, HMS "Victory" was ordered to be converted to a hospital ship to hold wounded French and Spanish prisoners of war. Another early example of a hospital ship was USS "Red Rover" in the 1860s, which aided the wounded soldiers of both sides during the American Civil War. It was the sighting by the Japanese of the Russian hospital ship Orel, correctly illuminated in accordance with regulations, that led to the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War. Orel was retained as a prize of war by the Japanese after the battle. During World War I and World War II, some passenger liners were converted for use as hospital ships. RMS "Aquitania" and HMHS "Britannic" were two such ships to serve in this capacity. The SS "Deutschland" was a World War II German example, sunk by British air attack in 1945 with substantial loss of life, because in the chaos of the war's closing days, she had not been sufficiently marked as a hospital ship.

The last British Royal Yacht, the post World War II HMY "Britannia", was ostensibly constructed in a way as to be easily convertible to a hospital ship, but this was largely a ruse to ensure Parliamentary funding, and she never served in this role - reputedly her lifts were too small to take standard-sized stretchers. USNS "Mercy" and USNS "Comfort" are hospital ships now operated by the United States Navy, and are the largest naval ambulances extant. Both ships are converted oil tankers.

Legal status

Modern hospital ships display large Red Crosses or Red Crescents to signify their Geneva convention protection under the laws of war. However, such markings did not stop the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship "Centaur" on 14 May 1943 off the coast of Queensland, by a Japanese submarine. Some hospital ships, such as the SS "Hope", belong to civilian agencies, and as such are automatically not part of a navy force.

The British Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA "Argus" would be a hospital ship were it not for its armaments. When performing its medical role it is designated a 'primary casualty receiving ship'.

ee also

;Lists:
* List of Australian hospital ships
* List of hospitals and hospital ships of the Royal Navy
* List of Sanitation Commission Hospital Ships
* List of United States Army hospital ships
* List of US Navy Hospital Ships

;Other:
* Mercy Ships
* MS Jutlandia

References

External links

* [http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/centaur/index.htm Australian War Memorial - Sinking of the Centaur]