HMHS Anglia

SS Anglia was a steam ship requisitioned for use as a hospital ship during the First World War. On 17 November 1915 she hit a mine laid by the German U-boat, UC-5.

SS Anglia, in 1905
History
United Kingdom
Name	Anglia
Owner	London and North Western Railway
Route	Irish Sea ferry crossings
Builder	Wm Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland
Yard number	619
Launched	20 December 1899
Completed	10 April 1900
Fate	Hit a mine laid by German U-boat UC-5 on 17 November 1915.[1]
Notes	Sister ship of SS Hibernia (1899)
General characteristics
Tonnage	1,862 GRT
Length	329 ft (100 m)
Beam	39.1 ft (11.9 m)
Draught	16 ft (4.9 m)
Propulsion	Triple expansion engine Twin screws 424hp[2]
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)

History

Anglia was built by Wm Denny & Brothers of Dumbarton, Scotland for the London and North Western Railway and was delivered in 1900. At first she was used on the Holyhead to Dublin North Wall service, then from 1908 on the Holyhead to Kingstown (later named Dún Laoghaire) service. With the outbreak of war she was drafted as a hospital ship.

The hospital ship Anglia

Sinking

On 17 November 1915 Anglia was returning from Calais to Dover, carrying 390 injured officers and soldiers. At around 12:30 pm, 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) east of Folkestone Gate, HMHS Anglia struck a mine and sank in fifteen minutes. 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.^[3][4][5]

The hospital ship Anglia sinking

Memorial to HMHS Anglia at the Holyhead Maritime Museum

Its stockless anchor was made a memorial at Holyhead.^[6]

In October 2014 there were calls for the wreck of the ship to be designated a war grave and protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act, 1986.^[5] In March 2017 the wreckage of HMHS Anglia was declared an official war grave, making it illegal to remove or disturb any human remains at the wreck site.^[7]

See also

• List of hospital ships sunk in World War I