Coordinates: 51°7′N 5°3′W

HMHS Glenart Castle

HMHS Glenart Castle (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) was
a steamship originally built as Galician in 1900 for the
Union-Castle Line. She was renamed Glenart Castle in
1914, but was requisitioned for use as a British hospital
ship during the First World War. On 26 February 1918,
she was hit and sunk by a torpedo fired from the German
U-boat UC-56.[1]

Contents
HMHS Glenart Castle, in her wartime service
Operational history colours
Mine damage
History
Sinking
United Kingdom
Aftermath
Memorial Name: Galician

See also Operator: Union-Castle Line

References Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast

Launched: 20 September 1900
Completed: 6 December 1900
Operational history
Identification: 6824
Fate: Acquired by Royal Navy in 1914
Mine damage
United Kingdom
During the First World War, Glenart Castle suffered Name: Glenart Castle
damaged when she struck a mine in the English Channel 8
Acquired: 1914
nautical miles (15 km) northwest of the Owers Lightship
on 1 March 1917. She was repaired and returned to Fate: Torpedoed on 26 February 1918
service.[2]
General characteristics
Tonnage: 6,807 GRT
Sinking
Length: 400 ft (120 m)
On 26 February 1918, Glenart Castle was leaving Speed: 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h;
Newport, South Wales, heading towards Brest, France. 14.4 mph)
Fishermen in the Bristol Channel saw her clearly lit up as
a hospital ship. John Hill — a fisherman on Swansea Castle — remembered "I saw the Hospital Ship with
green lights all around her – around the saloon. She had her red side lights showing and mast-head light, and
also another red light which I suppose was the Red Cross light."[3] At 04:00, Glenart Castle was hit by a
torpedo fired from the German U-boat UC-56 in the No. 3 hold.[1] The blast destroyed most of the lifeboats,
while the subsequent pitch of the vessel hindered attempts to launch the remaining boats. In the eight minutes
the ship took to sink, only seven lifeboats were launched.[1] Rough seas and inexperienced rowers swamped
most of the boats.
Only 32 survivors were reported. A total of 162 people were killed, including the Captain — Bernard Burt,
eight nurses of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, seven Royal Army Medical Corps
(RAMC) medical officers and 47 medical orderlies. Of the hospital patients being treated on board, a total of
99 died. The matron of Glenart Castle, Kate Beaufoy (1868–1918), was among those killed in the sinking.
Beaufoy was a veteran of the South African War and the Gallipoli campaign.[4] Her family kept her diary and
her writings describe life on the ship.[5]

Evidence was found suggesting that the submarine may have shot at initial survivors of the sinking in an effort
to cover up the sinking of Glenart Castle. The body of a junior officer of Glenart Castle was recovered from
the water close to the position of the sinking. It was marked with two gunshot wounds, one in the neck and the
other in the thigh.[6] The body also had a life vest indicating he was shot while in the water.[1]

Aftermath
The ship's wreck lies approximately 10 mi (16 km) west of Lundy[7]
in 240 ft (73 m) of water POS - 51:07N/05:03W.[5]

After the war, the British Admiralty sought the captains of U-boats
who sank hospital ships, in order to charge them with war crimes.[8]
Kapitänleutnant Wilhelm Kiesewetter — the commander of UC-56[9]
— was arrested after the war on his voyage back to Germany and
Memorial stone to Glenart Castle
interned in the Tower of London.[8] He was released on the grounds
that Britain had no right to hold a detainee during the Armistice.[8]

Memorial
A memorial plaque was dedicated on the 84th anniversary of the sinking, 26 February 2002 near to Hartland
Point, with the inscription, "In proud and grateful memory of those who gave their lives in the hospital ship
Glenart Castle. Please remember, Master Lt. Cmdr. Burt, Matron Katy Beaufoy, the ships officers, crew and
medical staff who died when their ship was torpedoed by UC56 in the early hours of 26th Feb 1918. The ship
lies 20 miles WNW from this stone. For those in peril on the sea. R.I.P. Dedicated 26.02.2002".[10]

The Scottish military charity Glen Art was founded in 2013 by Fiona MacDonald in honour of her great aunt
nurse Mary McKinnon who died while serving on the ship. In February 2018, Glen Art held a memorial
concert in Arisaig Scotland commemorating the centenary of the sinking of HMHS Glenart Castle and nurse
McKinnon’s death.[11][12][13]

See also
SS Rohilla
List of hospital ships sunk in World War I

References
1. "Hospital Ship Sunk by a U-Boat" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/02/2
8/109328815.pdf) (PDF). The New York Times. 28 February 1918. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
2. "Glenart Castle" (http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/2517.html). Uboat.net. Retrieved 23 December
2012.
 3. "Hospital ship "Glenart Castle" – torpedoed and sunk 26th February 1918" (https://web.archive.
org/web/20090609140333/http://www.ilfsac.org.uk/glenart.php). Ilfracombe and North Devon
Sub-Aqua Club. 2009. Archived from the original (http://www.ilfsac.org.uk/glenart.php) on 9
June 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
4. "Hospital Ships" (http://www.qaranc.co.uk/hospitalships.php). Queen Alexandra's Royal Army
Nursing Corps. 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
5. Crispin Sadler and Wayne Abbott (2006). "Deep Wreck Mysteries – Red Cross Outrage" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20090831054621/http://www.deepwreckmysteries.co.uk/episodes.htm)
. History Television. Archived from the original (http://www.deepwreckmysteries.co.uk/episodes.
htm) (TV Show) on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
6. "Evidence That Germans Fired on Hospital Ship Boats" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/tim
esmachine/1918/03/11/118139229.pdf) (PDF). The New York Times. 11 March 1918.
Retrieved 4 August 2009.
7. pg 226 – A. J. Tennent. British Merchant Ships Sunk by U-boats in World War One (2006 ed.).
Periscope Publishing Ltd. p. 258. ISBN 1-904381-36-7.
Galician 6824 Grt. Blt. 1900
8. "Admiralty stirred by German's release" (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/
12/02/118238690.pdf) (PDF). The New York Times. 2 December 1919. Retrieved 4 August
2009.
9. Gibson, R. H.; Maurice Prendergast (2003) [1931]. The German Submarine War, 1914–1918.
Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 379. ISBN 978-1-59114-314-7. OCLC 52924732
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52924732).
10. "Glenart Castle Memorial" (http://www.maritimequest.com/misc_pages/monuments_memorials/
glenart_castle_memorial.htm). Maritime Quest. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
11. "Discovering Glen Art" (http://www.creativescotland.com/explore/read/stories/features/2015/voi
ces-of-the-first-world-war). Creative Scotland (Executive NDPB of the Scottish Government). 11
November 2015.
12. "Scotland's finest musicians commemorate Nurse Mary Mckinnon" (https://www.cobseo.org.uk/
scotlands-finest-musicians-commemorate-nurse-mary-mckinnon-sinking-hm-hospital-ship-glen
art-castle/). The Confederation of Service Charities. 26 February 2018.
13. "Project honours Scotland's First World War dead" (https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/project-
honours-scotland-s-first-world-war-dead-1-3317395). The Scotsman. 24 February 2014.

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