HMHS Anglia

Anglia in 1905
History
United Kingdom
NameAnglia
OwnerLondon and North Western Railway
Operator1914: United Kingdom Royal Navy
Port of registry1900: United Kingdom Dublin
Route
  • 1900: Holyhead – Dublin
  • 1908: Holyhead – Kingstown
BuilderWm Denny & Bros, Dumbarton
Yard number619
Launched20 December 1899
Completed10 April 1900
Identification
Fatemined, 17 November 1915.[1]
General characteristics
Tonnage1,862 GRT, 783 NRT
Length329.0 ft (100.3 m)
Beam39.1 ft (11.9 m)
Depth15.7 ft (4.8 m)
Installed power2 × triple expansion engines, 424 NHP[2]
Propulsion2 × screws
Speed22 knots (41 km/h)
Capacityas hospital ship: 275 patients
Sensors &
processing systems		by 1910: submarine signalling
Notessister ships: Cambria, Hibernia, Scotia

SS Anglia was a was a UK twin screw passenger steamship. She was launched in Scotland in 1899 for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). She was requisitioned as an armed boarding steamer in 1914, and converted into a hospital ship in 1915. On 17 November 1915, a mine laid by a German U-boat sank her in the English Channel.

Description

In 1899 – 1900, William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton built a pair of passenger ferries for the LNWR. Yard number 618 was launched on 10 October 1899 as Hibernia, yard number 619 was launched on 20 December as Anglia, and both ships were completed in 1900.[3][4] Both were sister ships of Cambria, which Denny Brothers had built in 1897.[5]

Anglia's registered length was 329.0 ft (100.3 m), her beam was 39.1 ft (11.9 m), and her depth was 15.7 ft (4.8 m). Her tonnages were 1,862 GRT and 783 NRT. She had twin screws, each driven by a four-cylinder triple expansion engine. Their combined power was rated at 424 NHP,[6] and gave her a speed of 22 knots (41 km/h).[4] The LNWR registered her at Dublin. Her UK official number was 111031, and her code letters were RPKB.[7]

At first her route was between Holyhead and Dublin North Wall. From 1908 her route was between Holyhead and Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire). She was equipped with submarine signalling by 1910,[6] and wireless telegraphy by 1912.[8] By 1914, her call sign was GRE.[9]

Loss

Anglia as a hospital ship

With the outbreak of war in August 1914, Anglia was requisitioned as an armed boarding steamer. In April 1915 she was converted into a hospital ship.[4]

On 17 November 1915, she was returning from Calais to Dover, carrying 390 injured officers and soldiers. At around 12:30 pm, 1 nautical mile (2 km) east of Folkestone Gate, she struck a mine and sank in 15 minutes. It was one of a number of mines laid by the German U-boat UC-5. The nearby torpedo gunboat HMS Hazard helped evacuate the passengers and crew. Despite the assistance of the nearby collier Lusitania, 134 people died in the sinking.[10][11][12]

Anglia sinking
Monument to HMHS Anglia at Holyhead Maritime Museum

Her stockless anchor was made into a monument at Holyhead.[13]

In October 2014, there were calls for Anglia's wreck to be designated a war grave, which would protect it under the Protection of Military Remains Act, 1986.[12] The declaration was made in March 2017, making it illegal to remove or disturb any human remains at the wreck site.[14]

See also

  • List of hospital ships sunk in World War I

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 Môn Information Website. 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 28 August 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 28 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Hibernia". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b c "Anglia". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Cambria". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b Lloyd's Register 1910, AND–ANG
  7. ^ Mercantile Navy List 1901, p. 17.
  8. ^ Lloyd's Register 1912, ANG.
  9. ^ The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1914, p. 381.
  10. ^ "British Hospital Ship sunk, 85 lost". The New York Times. 18 November 1915. p. 1 – via Times Machine.
  11. ^ "Wreck Sites / Info". Shorncliffe Dive Centre. 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  12. ^ a b "WW1 ship wreck off Folkestone 'should be war grave'". BBC News. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  13. ^ "Anglia anchor memorial, Holyhead". History Points. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  14. ^ "First World War Shipwreck Declared War Grave". Archaeology Magazine. 6 March 2017.

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to HMHS Anglia (ship, 1900) at Wikimedia Commons

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