Editing Hospital ship (section)

===World Wars===
[[Image:HMHS Mauretania.jpg|thumb|right|[[RMS Mauretania (1906)|RMS ''Mauretania'']] as hospital ship HMHS ''Mauretania'' during [[World War I]].]]
During World War I and World War II, hospital ships were first used on a massive scale. Many [[ocean liner|passenger liners]] were converted for use as hospital ships. {{RMS|Aquitania}} and {{HMHS|Britannic}} were two famous examples of ships serving in this capacity. By the end of the First World War, the British Royal Navy had 77 such ships in service. During the [[Gallipoli Campaign]], hospital ships were used to evacuate wounded personnel to [[Egypt]], [[Malta]] or England.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Medicine and evacuation {{!}} Gallipoli {{!}} Century Ireland |url=https://gallipoli.rte.ie/guides/medicine-and-evacuation |access-date=2024-07-23 |website=gallipoli.rte.ie}}</ref>

[[Canada]] operated hospital ships in both world wars. In World War I these included SS ''Letitia'' (I) and {{HMHS|Llandovery Castle}} which was deliberately sunk by a German [[U-boat]] with great loss of life, despite the hospital ship's clearly marked status. In World War II, Canada operated the hospital ship {{RMS|Lady Nelson}} and [[SS Letitia|SS ''Letitia (II)'']].<ref>Douglas N. W. Smith, "Bringing Home the Wounded", ''Canadian Rail Passenger Yearbook 1996–1997 Edition'', Trackside Canada, Ottawa, p. 49-64.</ref>
[[File:HMHS Aquitania.jpg|thumb|250px|left|HMHS ''Aquitania'' in World War I service as a hospital ship.]]

The first purpose-built hospital ship in the U.S. Navy was {{USS|Relief|AH-1|6}}<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICoDAAAAMBAJ&dq=true&pg=-PA35 |title=Popular Science |date=August 1927 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |language=en}}</ref> which was commissioned in 1921. During World War II both the United States Navy and Army operated hospital ships though with different purposes.<ref name=MSWAJ>{{cite book |last1=Condon-Rall |first1=Mary Ellen |last2=Cowdrey |first2=Albert E. |year=1998 |title=The Technical Services—The Medical Department: Medical Service In The War Against Japan |series=United States Army In World War II |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Center Of Military History, United States Army |lccn=97022644 |pages=258, 388–389}}</ref> Naval hospital ships were fully equipped hospitals designed to receive casualties direct from the battlefield and also supplied to provide logistical support to front line medical teams ashore.<ref name=MSWAJ /> Army hospital ships were essentially hospital transports intended and equipped to evacuate patients from forward area Army hospitals to rear area hospitals or from those to the United States and were not equipped or staffed to handle large numbers of direct battle casualties.<ref name=MSWAJ /> Three of the Navy hospital ships, {{USS|Comfort|AH-6|6}}, {{USS|Hope|AH-7|6}}, and {{USS|Mercy|AH-8|6}}, were less elaborately equipped than other Navy hospital ships, medically staffed by Army medical personnel and similar in purpose to the Army model.<ref name=MSWAJ />

[[File:HMHS Britannic.jpg|thumbnail|right|{{HMHS|Britannic||2}} (youngest sister of {{RMS|Titanic||2}} and {{RMS|Olympic||2}}) after conversion to a hospital ship during World War I.]]
The last British [[royal yacht]], the post World War II {{ship|HMY|Britannia}}, was constructed in a way as to be convertible to a hospital ship in wartime. After her decommissioning, [[Peter Hennessy]] discovered that her actual role would have been as [[Queen Elizabeth II]]'s [[Operation Candid|refuge from nuclear weapons]], hiding amidst the [[loch]]s of western Scotland.<ref>{{cite news|last = Johnson|first = Simon|date = 2010-07-12|title = 'Floating bunker' plan to help Queen escape nuclear attack|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/7883972/Floating-bunker-plan-to-help-Queen-escape-nuclear-attack.html|work = Daily Telegraph|location = London|access-date = 2017-08-23}}</ref>

A development of the [[Lun-class ekranoplan]] was planned for use as a mobile field hospital for rapid deployment to any ocean or coastal location at a speed of 297&nbsp;knots (550&nbsp;km/h, 341.8&nbsp;mph). Work was 90% complete on this model, ''Spasatel'', but Soviet military funding ceased and it was never completed.

Some hospital ships, such as {{SS|Hope}} and ''[[Esperanza del Mar]]'', belong to civilian agencies, and do not belong to a navy. [[Mercy Ships]] is an international [[Non-governmental organization|non-governmental charity]] (or NGO).