HMHS Newfoundland

The Ship

HMHS Newfoundland

The Newfoundland was a British Royal Mail ship requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a hospital ship. Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Ltd of Barrow-in-Furness built Newfoundland for Furness, Withy & Co of Liverpool. Newfoundland spent the first part of World War II on her peacetime route, carrying wounded troops from the UK to Canada, and bringing the rehabilitated troops back home. After the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, HMHS Newfoundland was assigned as the hospital ship of the Eighth Army.

Operation Avalanche (Salerno landings), September 1943

At 5:00 a.m. on 13 September while under the command of Captain John Eric Wilson OBE, HMHS Newfoundland was hit by an air-launched torpedo 40 nautical miles (74 km) offshore of Salerno. It struck on the boat deck, abaft of the bridge. The ship was only carrying two patients and 34 crew members. Communications were lost but, more importantly, the fire fighting equipment was completely shattered. United States Ship USS Mayo came alongside to rescue the patients, and also put a party on board to help with damage control. By now the ship had caught fire. There was another explosion and it became clear that the oil tanks had also caught fire. The injured crew left the boat and 12 crew members battled the fire for a further 36 hours. The ship was beyond repair and was towed further out to sea and intentionally sunk by USS Plunkett.

“Survivors of the hospital ship Newfoundland, which was set on fire and sunk off Salerno on Sept.13 by a German bomber, stated on their arrival at a Scottish port that the vessel was deliberately singled out for attack. All her lights were on and the Red Cross was clearly visible. There were no wounded on board; but six nurses, all the doctors, and the ship’s officers lost their lives. The death-toll totalled 23; the dental surgeons on board escaped. The Newfoundland caught fire after a direct hit, and the evacuation of all those whom it was possible to save was effected by members of the crew. Orders were given to abandon ship, and all efforts were concentrated on removing the sick, many of them stretcher cases. In this task doctors and nurses worked heroically. At the time of the bombing the Newfoundland was carrying as passengers about 100 American nursing sisters who were to land with the Fifth Army.”

Casualties

The British nurses who were killed on HMHS Newfoundland were:

• Matron Agnes McInnes CHEYNE QAIMNS
• Sister Una CAMERON TANS
• Sister Dorothy Mary COLE QAIMNS
• Sister Phyllis GIBSON QAIMNS
• Sister Mary LEA TANS
• Sister Margaret Annie O'LOUGHLIN QAIMNS

Survivor testimony

There are a number of surviving testimonies from the American nurses, and a few from the British crew of the Newfoundland.

“On September 9, 1943, Adeline Simonson and fellow nurses of the 95th Evacuation Hospital (95th Evac) boarded Her Majesty’s Hospital Ship (HMHS) Newfoundland for a short run from Bizerte, Tunisia to the Gulf of Salerno, the site of the first Allied invasion of mainland Italy. While waiting 30 miles offshore, a German shell struck the vessel. As the fire spread, chaos erupted. Simonson grabbed her glasses and bible and reported to the evacuation boat station. A British nurse was trapped in a burning cabin with her head stuck out the porthole, howling in sheer terror. Knowing that she might not survive, a passing soldier knocked her unconscious. For the rest of her life, Simonson would be haunted by the woman’s desperate screams.”

“On arriving at Avonmouth, I found myself on board the hospital ship Newfoundland. We sailed from Avonmouth late July 1943, calling at Gibraltar, Algiers, Bizerta and then finding ourselves involved with the landing of Allied forces at Salerno. I had been detailed in charge of one of the boats intended to recover casualties from the beaches. On arrival at Salerno, we found ourselves in the midst of a naval barrage. This in itself was quite an experience. Our ship was under constant attack from German fighter bombers during the afternoon of our arrival and then there was a change of plan. We moved out of the ‘battle area’ and were to await further orders. Then in the early hours of the following morning we received a direct hit from an enemy plane. Night watch merchant seamen had said that it was an aerial torpedo. The explosion was amidships, killing all the medical officers who were quartered on the boat deck aft of the bridge. Approximately six of the QA ‘Nursing Officers’ were killed, along with some ORs, who happened to be sleeping on deck. The ship caught fire, started listing heavily, water pressure at the hydrants disappeared, lifeboats were burning and dropping from davits. Some QAs who were trapped in their ‘Boat Deck’ cabins were rescued by being literally dragged through port holes. Some injured ORs who had been sleeping on deck, were brought to safety from the blazing centre of the ship. The Ship’s Captain eventually gave the order to ‘Abandon Ship’. However, our plight had been picked up by the Hospital Carrier St Andrew, which arrived just as we were going ‘over the side’ into the water.”

Hospital ships in war

“In 1907 hospital ships were entered into the Hague Convention. Articles 4, 5, & 6 specifically specify restrictions for a hospital ships. They must be clearly marked, lighted, and painted white; their prominent display of a red cress or red crescent identifies them as hospital ships. They must provide medical assistance to all wounded personnel, regardless of their nationalities. They cannot be used for offensive military purposes and they must not interfere with enemy combatant ships and vessels. So hospital ships principal mission is to support wartime conflict by providing critical care and resuscitative life support to wounded, sick, or otherwise injured victims of the war.”

In 1917, the Central Powers of World War I declared, in disregard of international law, that hospital ships, no matter how prominently marked in compliance with Geneva and Hague Convention accords, were no longer protected as neutral vessels. Such ships were denied immunity from attack in the English Channel, parts of the North Sea, and the Mediterranean, even if the belligerents had been notified of their identities. Overall, the British lost fifteen hospital ships, most from mines and torpedo attacks. Similarly, during World War II, Germany, and later Italy, showed complete disregard for the Hague Convention[6].” References 1. Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motorships. London: Lloyd's Register. 1935 2. Medical News (1943) British Medical Journal, October 30th, 1943, p.564 3. Nicholson, C; Hillman, S. & Desai, S. (2016) ‘Don’t Worry About Me’: The World War II Experience of Adeline Simonson, Nurse Anesthetist with the 95th Evacuation Hospital. American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Journal, 84(5), p.309-315 4. Hammond, C.V. p.2 5. Sokolowski, M.A. (2011) Employing U.S. Navy Hospital Ships in Support of Soft Power Projection. U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA 6. GlobalSecurity.org (2011)Hospital Ship History [WWW] https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ah-history.htm accessed June 2019