Army Transport Service Hospital Ships

During World War II the Army Transport Service operated a total of 24 hospital ships which were manned by "civilian" crews, employees of the Army Transport Service. The medical staff were Army personnel.

The hospital ships were operated under the provisions of the Hague Convention X of 1907, which specified identifying markings. These proved inadequate, so large illuminated red crosses on deck were added for aerial visibility at night. Hospital ships were allowed to carry medical supplies as cargo for the battlefield. Most of the hospital ships were former passenger liners/troopships which were disarmed, repainted, and rearranged for hospital use. 6 Liberty ships were converted for hospital use.

Chateau Thierry as Hospital ship in World War II

Chateau Thierry as Hospital ship in World War II

Army Hospital Ships Entering Service During World War II

(Former names are listed in parentheses)

Name

Speed knots

Patient Capacity

 Date First Voyage Destination First Voyage
Acadia

16

 787 06/05/43 North Africa
Shamrock (Comfort, Havana, Yucatan, Agwileon)

14

 543 09/04/43 North Africa
Seminole

14

 454 09/20/43 North Africa
Algonquin

14

 454 02/02/44 North Africa
Chateau Thierry

13

 484 03/05/44 North Africa
Thistle (Munargo)

15

 455 04/08/44 North Africa
St. Mihiel

13

 504 05/10/44 North Africa
John L. Clem
(Santa Ana, Guatemala, Santa Cecilia, Irwin)

14

 286 06/15/44 North Africa
Comfort

14

 702 06/21/44 Australia
Blanche F. Sigman (Stanford White)

11

 590 07/07/44 United Kingdom
Emily H. M. Weder
(President Buchanan)

13

 738 07/12/44 Italy
Ernest Hinds
(Santa Theresa, Kent)

14

 288 07/14/44 Italy
Wisteria (William Osler)

11

 588 07/16/44 United Kingdom
Marigold (Old North State, President Van Buren, President Fillmore)

13

 758 07/19/44 Italy
Dogwood (George Washington Carver)

11

 592 07/21/44 United Kingdom
John J. Meany
(Zebulon B. Vance)

11

 582 07/27/44 Italy
St. Olaf

11

 586 08/12/44 United Kingdom
Larkspur
(Breslau, Bridgeport)

10

 592 08/31/44 United Kingdom
Mercy

14

 702 08/31/44 Southwest Pacific
Jarrett M. Huddleston
(Samuel F. B. Morse)

11

 582 09/07/44 United Kingdom
Charles A. Stafford (Siboney)

16

 706 09/21/44 United Kingdom
Hope

14

 702 09/23/44 Southwest Pacific
Louis A. Milne
(Lewis Luckenbach)

12

 952 03/19/45 United Kingdom
Ernestine Koranda
(Edellyn, Dorothy Luckenbach)

13

 722 04/13/45 United Kingdom
Aleda E. Lutz (Colombie, France)

15

 778 04/18/45 United Kingdom
Frances Y. Slanger
(Saturnia)

19

 1,628 06/30/45 United Kingdom

 

 


Patients Evacuated from Overseas by Water and Debarked at Army Ports in United States: 1943 to 1945

Includes Army, Navy, and Allied military patients debarked at Army ports indicated.

Port 1943

1944

 1945
Boston 5,931 8,296 35,383
New York 17,810 39,850 127,748
Hampton Roads 3,814 12,807 14,800
Charleston 1,128 31,148 41,299
New Orleans 1,261 971 656
Los Angeles 1,945 3,528 15,417
San Francisco 30,545 45,380 55,789
Seattle 4,961 2,943 7,925
Total 67,395 144,923 299,017

In addition 168 patients were debarked at Baltimore cargo port in 1943 and 1 in 1944.

Photo: Massman, Emory A. , Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference, McFarland & Company, Inc. Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina

Sources:
Charles, Roland W. , Troopships of World War II, Army Transportation Association, Washington, DC: 1947
Wardlow, Chester,United States Army in World War II, The Technical Service, The Transportation Corps: Movements, Training, and Supply, Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, Government Printing Office,1956, 1978, 1990

 


*A Medal For Marigold: Seattle's Marine Medic, Michael Skalley, Seattle, Superior Publishing Company, 1982 [A history of the Hospital Ship Marigold based on the journals of Captain Robert Skalley available from Michael Skalley ]

Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference, Emory A. Massman, McFarland & Company, Inc. Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640 1-800-253-2187

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