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Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones.[1] In the 19th century, redundant warships were used as moored hospitals for seamen.

The Second Geneva Convention prohibits military attacks on hospital ships that meet specified requirements, though belligerent forces have right of inspection and may take patients, but not staff, as prisoners of war.[2][3]

Hospital-ships must be painted white. Military hospital ships must have a green band; ships operated by approved relief societies and similar must have a red band.

Ships must fly a red cross flag in addition to their national flag.

The ship should give medical assistance to wounded personnel of all nationalities.

The ship must not be used for any military purpose, or interfere with or hamper enemy combatant vessels.

Belligerents, as designated by the Hague Convention, can search any hospital ship to investigate violations of the above restrictions.

Belligerents will establish the location of a hospital ship.

Hospital ships were covered under the Hague Convention X of 1907.[20] Articles of the Hague Convention X specified the provisions for a hospital ship:


According to the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, a hospital ship violating legal restrictions must be duly warned and given a reasonable time limit to comply. If a hospital ship persists in violating restrictions, a belligerent is legally entitled to capture it or take other means to enforce compliance. A non-complying hospital ship may only be fired on under the following conditions:


In all other circumstances, attacking a hospital ship is a war crime.


Modern hospital ships display large Red Crosses or Red Crescents to signify their Geneva Convention protection under the laws of war. Even so, marked vessels have not been completely free from attack. Notable examples of hospital ships deliberately attacked during wartime are HMHS Llandovery Castle in 1915, the Soviet hospital ship Armenia in 1941, and AHS Centaur in 1943.

– USS Gerald R. Ford, first in the class, has an on-board hospital that includes a full lab, pharmacy, operating room, 3-bed intensive care unit, 2-bed emergency room, and 41-bed hospital ward, staffed by 11 medical officers and 30 hospital corpsmen.[29]

Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier

– Each carrier has a 53-bed hospital ward, a three-bed ICU, and acts as the hospital ship for the entire carrier strike group.[30] In one year, the medical department of USS George Washington handled over 15,000 out-patient visits, drew almost 27,000 labs, filled almost 10,000 prescriptions, took about 2,300 x-rays and performed 65 surgical operations.[31] There is not much variation among the ships of the class. The first ship, USS Nimitz has 53 beds, plus 3 ICU beds, and the last ship, USS George H.W. Bush has 51 beds, plus 3 ICU beds.[32]

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

It is common for naval ships, especially large ships such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships to have on-board hospitals. However, they are only one small part of the vessel's overall capability, and are used primarily for the ship's crew and its amphibious forces (and occasionally for relief missions). A warship with hospital facilities does not have the protected status of a hospital ship.[28] A primary example of the varied military-based hospital services available at sea is found aboard several types of US naval ships;


More examples from various other national navies include;


Germany German Navy

List of hospital ships sunk in World War I

List of hospital ships sunk in World War II

List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy § Hospital Ships (AH)

List of hospital ships of the Australian Navy

List of hospital ships of the Brazilian Navy

List of hospital ships of the Chinese Navy

List of hospital ships of the Royal Navy

List of hospital ships of the United States Navy

List of hospital ships of the United States Army

List of hospital ships of the United States Sanitary Commission

Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine

Australian War Memorial – Sinking of the Centaur

WW2 US Hospital Ships

US Army Hospital Ships in WWII

New Zealand Hospital Ships (chapter of official history of WWI)

Media related to Hospital ships at Wikimedia Commons