Editing HMHS Britannic (section)

=== Requisition ===
[[File:Britannic during WWI.jpg|thumb|''Britannic'' seen after her conversion to an operative hospital ship, {{circa}} January 1916]]
The need for increased tonnage grew critical as naval operations extended to the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]. In May 1915, ''Britannic'' completed mooring trials of her engines and was prepared for emergency entrance into service with as little as four weeks' notice. The same month also saw the first major loss of a civilian ocean liner when Cunard's {{RMS|Lusitania}} was torpedoed near the Irish coast by {{SMU|U-20|Germany|6}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Le Goff|1998|p=50}}</ref>

The following month, the Admiralty decided to use recently requisitioned passenger liners as [[Troopship|troop transports]] in the [[Gallipoli Campaign]] (also called the [[Dardanelles]] service). The first to sail were Cunard's {{RMS|Mauretania|1906|6}} and {{RMS|Aquitania}}. As the Gallipoli landings proved to be disastrous and the casualties mounted, the need for large hospital ships for treatment and evacuation of wounded became evident. ''Aquitania'' was diverted to hospital ship duties in August (her place as a troop transport would be taken by ''Olympic'' in September). Then on 13 November 1915, ''Britannic'' was requisitioned as a hospital ship from her storage location at Belfast.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

Repainted white with large red crosses and a horizontal green stripe, she was renamed HMHS (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) ''Britannic''<ref name="MC240" /> and placed under the command of [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] [[Charles Alfred Bartlett]].<ref name=MC241>{{harvnb|Chirnside|2011|p=241}}.</ref> In the interior, 3,309 beds and several operating rooms were installed. The common areas of the upper decks were transformed into rooms for the wounded. The cabins of B Deck were used to house doctors. The first-class dining room and the first-class reception room on D Deck were transformed into operating rooms. The lower bridge was used to accommodate the lightly wounded.<ref name=MC241 /> The medical equipment was installed on 12 December 1915.<ref name=MC240 />