SS ''Anglia'' was a steam ship requisitioned for use as a

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. On 17 November 1915 she hit a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

laid by the German

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

, ''UC-5''.

History

''Anglia'' was built by Wm Denny & Brothers of

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, Scotland for the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

and was delivered in 1900. At first she was used on the

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

to Dublin North Wall service, then from 1908 on the Holyhead to Kingstown (later named

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

) service. With the outbreak of war she was drafted as a hospital ship. HS Anglia

Sinking

On 17 November 1915 ''Anglia'' was returning from

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

, carrying 390 injured officers and soldiers. At around 12:30 pm, east of Folkestone Gate, HMHS ''Anglia'' struck a mine and sank in fifteen minutes. The nearby

torpedo gunboat In the late 19th century, torpedo gunboats were a form of gunboat armed with torpedoes and designed for hunting and destroying smaller torpedo boats. By the end of the 1890s torpedo gunboats were superseded by their more successful contemporaries, ...

HMS ''Hazard'' helped evacuate the passengers and crew. Despite the assistance of the nearby collier ''Lusitania'', 134 people died in the sinking. HMHS Anglia sinking

Its stockless anchor was made a memorial at

. In October 2014 there were calls for the wreck of the ship to be designated a war grave and protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act, 1986. In March 2017 the wreckage of HMHS ''Anglia'' was declared an official war grave, making it illegal to remove or disturb any human remains at the wreck site.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglia Maritime incidents in 1915 Hospital ships in World War I 1899 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ships sunk by mines Ships of the London and North Western Railway World War I shipwrecks in the English Channel Protected wrecks of the United Kingdom Attacks on hospitals during World War I

History

Sinking

See also

References

External links