HMHS Panama
From Our Contribution
 SS Panama in Hospital configuration. photo from www.roll-of-honour.com | |
 WW2 as RFA Maine | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMHS Panama |
| Owner | Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., Liverpool |
| Builder | Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., Govan |
| Yard number | 419 |
| Launched | 8 Mar 1902 |
| Completed | 1902 |
| In service | 1902 |
| Out of service | 1948 |
| Fate | scrapped 8 Jul 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / cargo |
| Tonnage | 10,100 tons |
| Length | 401.2 ft (122.29m) |
| Beam | 52.3 ft (15.94) |
| Depth | 33.7 ft (10.27m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 13 knots (24.08 km/h) |
Contents
- 1 Remarks
- 2 Soldiers carried
- 2.1 Malta to England 31 October - 8 November 1915
- 2.2 Le Havre to England 27 July 1916
- 2.3 Le Havre to England 18 August 1916
- 2.4 Le Havre to England 7 September 1916
- 2.5 Le Havre to England 18 April 1917
- 2.6 Rouen to England 17 October 1917
- 2.7 France to England 2 January 1918
- 2.8 France to England 29 January 1918
- 2.9 Le Havre to Portsmouth 28 April 1918
- 2.10 France to England 1 May 1918
- 2.11 France to England 9 May 1918
- 2.12 France to England 30 August 1918
- 2.13 Le Havre to Portsmouth 17 October 1918
Remarks
Original owner was Pacific Steam Navigation Company. During 1915 she operated as a Hospital ship in the Mediterranean, and as such she carried 8 Medical Officers, 8 Nurses, and 58 other medical personnel to cater for up to 19 Officer patients, 217 other ranks in cots and 248 in berths. Served from 25 Jul 1915 to 23 Nov 1919. The Panama was present off Gallipoli, and she ferried wounded and ill troops around the Mediterranean ports during 1915. In February 1916 the Panama was ordered to return to England. She thereafter was based in Cowes, and provided a shuttle service between Southampton and Le Havre, for repatriating wounded troops from the Western Front.
Panama was purchased by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1920 and converted to become HMHS Maine. RFA Maine served exclusively as a hospital ship to the Mediterranean Fleet except for her brief sojourn to the Far East in 1927. During the Spanish Civil War she spent the better part of two years evacuating refugee Spanish women and children to Marseilles.
During World War Two the Maine served at Alexandria as a Base Hospital, suffering casualties when the harbour was bombed. With the fluid front lines in North Africa, she was often called on to evacuate casualties from advanced ports, and distinguished herself with the speed with which she could load casualties. In 1943 she spent time in Greek waters evacuating casualties from the beaches and from Piraeus. She then went to Malta where she again served as a Naval Hospital. In 1948 she was decommissioned and sent to Bo'ness for breaking up.