Monday 21 November 2016

Centenary of the sinking of the Hospital Ship "Britannic", sister ship to the R.M.S. "Titanic"

Today marks the Centenary of the sinking of the Hospital Ship “Britannic” on 21st November 1916. There is still speculation as to whether she was torpedoed or hit a mine.   RMS “Britannic” was built by Harland and Wolf, Belfast, as a sister ship to the White Star Line liners RMS “Titanic” and RMS “Olympic”.  “Britannic” was launched in February 1914 then laid up until the British Admiralty requisitioned her for use as a Hospital Ship in 1915.

“Britannic” was steaming from Southampton to Mudros in Greece with 1,065 people on board – 77 nurses, 315 Royal Army Medical Corps personnel and 673 crew members.   An explosion caused her to sink in the Kia Channel near the Greek Island of Kia with the loss of 30 lives, the bodies of 5 of whom were found and buried.

There is a Facebook Group dedicated to the memory of the Hospital Ship “Britannic”: https://www.facebook.com/groups/331189576917380/1179513172085012/?notif_t=group_activity&notif_id=1479580714338389