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HMHS Salta

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HMT Salta.jpg
Imperial War Museum
History
Name HMT Salta
Builder/Built 1911 Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Medirerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer
Type Steam passenger liner (twin screw)
Displacement 7,728 tons
Speed 15 knots


Remarks

Built for the Société Générale de Transport Maritime Steam. The Salta was chartered by the British Admiralty in February 1915 and converted into a hospital ship.

The former liner was painted white with wide green stripes and the insignia of the Red Cross, according to the terms laid down in the Hague Convention of 1894.


On 10 Apr 1917 while returning to pick up wounded at the port of Le Havre, France, Salta struck a mine at 11:43, one mile (1.6 km) north of the entrance to the dam. A huge explosion smashed the hull near the stern in the engine room and hold number three. Water rushed into the disabled ship which listed to starboard and sank in less than 10 minutes. Of the 205 passengers and crew members, nine nurses, 42 member of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and 79 crew drowned.

Soldiers carried

Gallipoli to Malta 13 - 17 August 1915

Gallipoli to Mudros 5 September 1915

Mudros to Alexandria 7 - 9 September 1915

Alexandria to Marseilles 29 Mar 1916 - 5 Apr 1916