Editing HMHS Britannic (section)

==== Evacuation ====
On the bridge, Captain Bartlett was already considering efforts to save the ship. Only two minutes after the blast, boiler rooms five and six had to be evacuated. In about ten minutes, ''Britannic'' was roughly in the same condition ''Titanic'' had been in one hour after the [[Iceberg that sank the Titanic|collision with the iceberg]]. Fifteen minutes after the ship was struck, the open portholes on E Deck were underwater. With water also entering her aft section from the bulkhead between boiler rooms four and five, ''Britannic'' quickly developed a serious list to starboard.<ref name=MC257>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=257}}.</ref>

Bartlett gave the order to turn starboard towards the island of [[Kea (island)|Kea]] in an attempt to beach her. The effect of ''Britannic's'' starboard list and the weight of the [[rudder]] made attempts to navigate the ship under her own power difficult, and the steering gear had been knocked out by the explosion, which eliminated steering by the rudder. The captain ordered the port shaft driven at a higher speed than the starboard side, which helped the ship move towards Kea.<ref name=MC257/>

At the same time, the hospital staff prepared to evacuate. Bartlett had given the order to prepare the lifeboats, but he did not allow them to be lowered into the water. Everyone took their most valuable belongings with them before they evacuated. The chaplain of the ship recovered his Bible. The few patients and nurses on board were assembled. Major Harold Priestley gathered his detachments from the Royal Army Medical Corps to the back of the A deck and inspected the cabins to ensure no one was left behind.<ref name=MC257 />

While Bartlett continued his desperate manoeuvre, ''Britannic's'' list steadily increased. Fearing that the list would become too large to launch, some crew decided to launch lifeboats without waiting for the order to do so.<ref name=MC257 /> Two lifeboats were put onto the water on the port side without permission by Third Officer Francis Laws. These boats were drawn towards the still-turning, partly surfaced propellers. Bartlett ordered the engines to stop but before this could take effect, the two boats were drawn into the propellers, completely destroying both and killing 30 people.<ref name=hublots /> Bartlett was able to stop the engines before any more boats were lost.<ref name=MC259>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=259}}.</ref>