HMHS Anglia

SS Anglia, in 1905
History
Name: Anglia
Owner: London and North Western Railway
Route: Irish Sea ferry crossings
Builder: Wm Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland
Yard number: 619
Launched: 20 December 1899
Completed: 10 April 1900
Fate: Hit a mine laid by German U-boat UC-5 on 17 November 1915.[1]
General characteristics
Tonnage: 1,862 GRT
Length: 329 ft (100 m)
Beam: 39.1 ft (11.9 m)
Draught: 16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion:
  • Triple expansion engine
  • Twin screws
  • 424hp[2]
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h)

SS Anglia was a steam ship requisitioned for use as a hospital ship during the First World War. On 17 November 1915 she hit a mine laid by the German U-boat, UC-5.

History

Anglia was built by Wm Denny & Brothers of Dumbarton, Scotland for the London and North Western Railway and was delivered in 1900. At first she was used on the Holyhead to Dublin North Wall service, then from 1908 on the Holyhead to Kingstown (later named Dún Laoghaire) service. With the outbreak of war she was drafted as a hospital ship.

The hospital ship Anglia

Sinking

On 17 November 1915 Anglia was returning from Calais to Dover, carrying 390 injured officers and soldiers. At around 12:30 pm, 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) east of Folkestone Gate, HMHS Anglia struck a mine and sank in fifteen minutes. The nearby torpedo gunboat HMS Hazard helped evacuate the passengers and crew. Despite the assistance of the nearby collier Lusitania 134 people were killed in the sinking.[3][4][5] 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.[5]

The hospital ship Anglia sinking

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Sinking of the H.M.H.S. Anglia by a mine laid by a German U-Boat in the Dover Straits.". anglesey.info. 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  2. ↑ Mackenzie J Gregory (2009). "Auxiliary Hospital Ship Anglia, mined off Folkestone on the 17th. of November 1915. 127, or 164 Dead". Ahoy - Mac's Web Log. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  3. ↑ "British Hospital Ship sunk, 85 lost". The New York Times. November 18, 1915. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Wreck Sites / Info". shorncliffedivecentre.com. 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
  5. 1 2 "WW1 ship wreck off Folkestone 'should be war grave'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 20 October 2010.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMHS Anglia.

Coordinates: 51°2′N 1°19′E / 51.033°N 1.317°E / 51.033; 1.317

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