HOSPITAL SHIPS. By the regulations for the government of the navy of the United States, ships may be designated by the Navy Department as hospital ships. In all matters concerning their use as hospitals, they are as similated to hospitals on shore, and are under the control of the Bureau of Medicine and Sur gery of the United States navy. They are com manded by naval medical officers not below the rank of surgeon. The commander has under him a merchant crew and officers, for the pur pose of navigation, and a detail from the hos pital corps of the navy, together with such female nurses and. junior medical officers as may be required. The ship is considered to be a naval auxiliary, and in all non-medical mat ters is subject to the inspection, care and super vision of the supervisor of medical auxiliaries. The merchant crew is under the command of its master, who is in full control of its discipline and the navigation of the ship. Hospital ships are for the sole purpose of the care of the sick and wounded of the navy, marine corps and army, and of the shipwrecked or other persons needing medical assistance. They are forbid den to carry any officers or men not sick, dis abled or shipwrecked besides their complement, or any contraband of war except the coal and stores needed for upkeep and movement. Strict neutrality is enjoined on all hospital ships, and they carry no guns or ammunition not neces sary for the protection of the sick and wounded and the maintenance of order on board. Naval hospital ships fly the Geneva cross at the main instead of the narrow pennant and are painted white, with a horizontal band of green a meter and a half wide. In 1916 the only naval hos pital ship of the United States was the Solace, of 5,700 tons, with a complement of 59 hos pital corps men and 100 in the merchant crew. It was used for hospital purpose with the fleet in time of peace. The army also provides on oversea expeditions hospital ships which are manned by the medical department as far as their medical aspect is concerned, and ships for patients, which are ordinary transports or merchant vessels put into temporary medical use. The medical complement of a hospital
ship of 200 beds consists of 1 lieutenant-colonel or major; 4 junior officers; 1 sergeant, first class; 4 sergeants; 5 acting cooks; 30 privates, first class, and privates. When hospital ships are furnished by the American Red Cross, they are likewise commanded by army medical offi cers. Hospital ships are also used for the conveyance of medical department personnel and supplies.
The second Geneva Convention of 1868 pro vided that hospital ships, merchantmen having wounded on board and boats picking up the wounded or shipwrecked should be neutral and immune from attack or capture. They are painted in the manner which has been described for the United States navy if they belong to a government, and with a similar red stripe if they belong to an aid society. They fly the Red Cross flag besides the national ensign, and are not allowed to carry arms. They lose their rights to neutrality if they are used for other than strictly medical purposes.
Civilian hospital ships may be classed under two heads: those that work among the merchant fleet; and those that work primarily among the children of the great cities, giving them the benefit of sea air and a respite from the sum mer heat during their sickness. The United States coast-guard cutter Androscoggin has been fitted out as a hospital ship under a sur geon of the public health service for service among the fishing fleet of the north Atlantic, and the same sort of duty was done by a French ship, the Saint Francois d'Assise. Of the second class, the Boston Floating Hospital and the hos pital ship maintained by the Bellevue Hospital of New York city are good examples. The latter ship is used primarily for tuberculous cases, and is in commission throughout the year. See ARMY MEDICAL CORPS; GENEVA CONVENTIONS; HOSPITAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY; HOSPITAL CORPS, UNITED STATES NAVY; RED CROSS SOCIETIES; WAR, EUROPEAN.