S.S. Letitia (1912)

Built by Scott's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Greenock, Scotland for the Donaldson Line, the Letitia had one funnel, twin screws, a tonnage of 8,991 tons, and berths for 300 second class passengers and 950 third class passengers. Her service speed was 14 knots.

On 18 November 1914, she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for service as a hospital ship or ambulance transport, and given the prefix HMHS.

She evacuated troops under fire near the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli Campaign, and rescued the survivors of the torpedoed cargo liner SS City of Birmingham near Malta on 27 November 1916.

In 1917, she was relocated to the Atlantic, and assigned to repatriate wounded Canadian soldiers. In five trips, she carried 2,600 wounded troops. While repatriating 546 wounded Canadian soldiers, she ran aground in Portuguese Cove, near Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 1, 1917.

Sources

• Scottish Built Ships: Letitia
• Great Ships: Letitia
• Maritime Museum of the Atlantic - On The Rocks: Letitia - 1917
• The Ships List: Donaldson Line
• The Ships List: Ships Descriptions - L
• Wikipedia: HMHS Letitia (1912)
• Wikipedia: Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
• The Wrecksite: SS Letitia (+1917)