The Esperanza del Mar, operated by the Spanish Department of Labor

HMHS Britannic repainted white with large red crosses and a horizontal green stripe

The USNS Mercy of the US Navy

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. A ship prefix is a combination of letters usually abbreviations used in front of the name of a civilian or naval Ship. Deployments On 27 February 1987, Mercy began training while enroute on a humanitarian cruise to the Philippines and the South Pacific A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size Health care is the prevention treatment and management of illness and the preservation of mental health through the services offered by the medical, Nursing A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking In Political geography and International politics, a country is a Political division of a geographical entity "The world " is a proper noun for the planet Earth envisioned from an Anthropocentric or Human Worldview, as a place ^[1] Firing on a hospital ship is generally considered a war crime. War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied

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. Construction In December 1758 the commissioner of Chatham Dockyard was instructed to prepare a Dry dock for the construction of a new First-rate 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. Service under the Confederacy Red Rover, the Navy's first hospital ship was a side-wheel steamer built in 1859 at Cape Girardeau Missouri. Events and trends Technology The First Transcontinental Railroad in the USA was completed in 1869 Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South 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. The Battle of Tsushima ( Japanese: 対馬海戦 tsushima-kaisen, Цусимское сражение Tsusimskoye srazheniye) commonly known as the The Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 Romaji: Nichi-Ro Sensō Русско-японская война Russko-Yaponskaya Voyna;, 10 February 1904 – 5 September 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. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one Seaport to another along regular long-distance Maritime routes according to a schedule RMS Aquitania and HMHS Britannic were two such ships to serve in this capacity. Origin The origins of Aquitania lay in the rivalry between the White Star Line and Cunard, Britain 's two leading shipping companies History Post- Titanic design changes Following the loss of the Titanic and the subsequent enquiries several design changes were made to the remaining The SS Deutschland was a WWII 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 WWII 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. History HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort are hospital ships now operated by the United States Navy, and are the largest naval ambulances extant. Deployments On 27 February 1987, Mercy began training while enroute on a humanitarian cruise to the Philippines and the South Pacific Deployments of the USNS Comfort Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm See also Gulf War During Operation Desert Storm, An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury. Both ships are converted oil tankers.

Legal status

Modern hospital ships display large Red Crosses or Red Crescents to enjoy Geneva convention protection under the laws of war. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an International humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide who stated The Geneva Conventions consist of four Treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for International law for humanitarian The law of war (also law of armed conflict, LOAC) is Law concerning acceptable practices relating to 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. Design and construction Original design In early 1923 the Ocean Steamship Company (better known as Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel Line) decided that a new vessel Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent Some hospital ships, such as the SS Hope, belong to civilian agencies, and as such are automatically not part of a navy force. The SS Hope was a Hospital ship operated by Project HOPE (USA.

The British Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA Argus would be a hospital ship were it not for its armaments. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ( RFA) is a component of the Naval Service that keeps the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom running around the world Layout Being a former container ship Argus does not have a traditional aircraft carrier layout - the ship's superstructure is located forward with a long flight deck When performing its medical role it is designated a 'primary casualty receiving ship'.

See 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

• Australian War Memorial - Sinking of the Centaur