HMHS Guildford Castle
From Our Contribution
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 HMHS Guildford Castle at Dar es Salaam in WW1 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMHS Guildford Castle |
| Owner | The Union-Castle Mail Steam Ship Co. Ltd, London |
| Builder | Barclay, Curle & Company, Glasgow |
| Yard number | 488 |
| Launched | 11 Aug 1911 |
| Completed | October 1911 |
| In service | 1911 |
| Out of service | 31 May 1933 |
| Fate | Collision 31 May 1933 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / Cargo Refrigerated |
| Tonnage | 7,995 tons |
| Length | 452 ft 1 in (137.80m) |
| Beam | 56 ft 2 in (17.12m) |
| Depth | 30 ft 8 in (9.35m) |
| Speed | 13 knots (24.08 km/h) |
Contents
Remarks
Owned by the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company. At the outbreak of WW1 Guildford Castle participated in the first troop convoy from England to Europe before being commissioned as a hospital ship with 427 beds serviced by nine medical officers , 13 nurses and 59 other medical staff. She served in this role from 22 Sep 1914 until 19 Nov 1918. Early during the Gallipoli campaign she saw service in the eastern Mediterranean.
During the German West and East African campaigns in 1915, she remained in Southern African waters where she was more occupied with coping with diseased troops rather than tose with war wounds. On 10 Mar 1918, enroute to Avonmouth, she was hit by a torpedo that failed to explode and missed by another despite flying a large Red Cross flat and sailing with her navigation lights on. At the time she was carrying 438 wounded soldiers.
She was decommissioned on 9 Nov 1918 and returned to commercial service, initially on the Intermediate service in 1920, and then on the round Africa service. On 31 May 1933 she collided with the blue Funnel Line ship SS Stentor in the River Elbe estuary due to pilot error. The "Guildford Castle", emerging from a fog bank, suddenly saw the Blue Funnel Line (Alfred Holt) ship "Stentor", on her way up to Hamburg, The "Guildford Castle"s helm was put to port, and the "Stentor" ploughed into the port side of the "Guildford Castle", leaving her badly damaged. Three people lost their lives, and she was beached the following day and declared a total, constructive loss.