Ensign Flown by British Hospital Ships

[Old Cove]

A recent thread about the correct prefix for hospital ships ventured into some interesting byways which included debate about the ensign flown by hospital ships. It was pointed out that hospital ships were not commissioned into the Royal Navy and therefore would not have flown the white ensign, and that all warrants to fly the plain blue ensign were cancelled in August 1914, so the choice was between the red ensign and a blue ensign defaced with a horizontal anchor, sometimes known as the Admiralty Ensign. For anyone interested in this debate, I have just come across a 1917 HMSO pamphlet entitled 'Correspondence with the German Government regarding the Alleged Misuse of British Hospital Ships' which, as well as being an interesting read, seems to resolve the ensign question.

The pamphlet contains memoranda from the German Government (delivered via United States embassies) documenting the allegations of misuse and advising Britain that it intends as a consequence to treat as belligerent any hospital ship encountered in the southern North Sea, the English Channel and parts of the Mediterranean. The pamphlet also contains the British Government's detailed rebuttals to each of the allegations. One of these contains the sentence (p 12), 'All British hospital ships have their names painted distinctly on them in the usual place, and all fly the Red Cross flag and the British defaced Blue Ensign worn by transports.' This seems both authoritative and definitive - at least to me! The pamphlet can be downloaded from the Internet Archive here.

[Kath]

Thanks, OC.

Very interesting.

I like the phrase "fallacious deductions of their witnesses".

Kath.

[KizmeRD]

Well done for resolving one of those niggardly little discussion points.

Michael

[Ralph Currell]

Thanks for that find, Old Cove. A useful bit of info.

Is anyone here aware of a photograph that clearly shows this ensign? I had a quick look through a number of hospital ship photos without success.

Regards,

Ralph

[Old Cove]

Is anyone here aware of a photograph that clearly shows this ensign? I had a quick look through a number of hospital ship photos without success.

The best I have seen is an IWM photo showing the stern of the hospital ship Britannic at Southampton. It is reproduced in Simon Mills book about the ship and was included by him in #39 of the previous thread I quoted in my opening post. Unfortunately the bit of the ensign where the defacing anchor would be is obscured, but the density differences on the B&W photo clearly indicate a blue ensign. (Somewhere else on the forum I remember reading a thread explaining about the use of safety film in the WW1 period and its lack of sensitivity to red.)

Roger

[Old Cove]

I like the phrase "fallacious deductions of their witnesses".

You sort of feel the disdain oozing from the page! Interestingly the Medical Services General History, Vol I, mentions that hospital ships in the Channel were reclassified as ambulance transports following concerns that their distinctive paint scheme made them an easy target for attack but it doesn't mention the German memoranda. It says (p 113):

'It was consequently determined that all distinctive marks on hospital ships, employed on the channel services at any rate, should be removed. They no longer claimed the protection of the Geneva Convention and sailed as ordinary transports. Their equipment remained the same, but they were designated "ambulance transports" in place of hospital ships, were armed to repel attack, were entitled to a naval escort when necessary, and sailed under the Red Ensign.'

Roger

[Ralph Currell]

The best I have seen is an IWM photo showing the stern of the hospital ship Britannic at Southampton. It is reproduced in Simon Mills book about the ship and was included by him in #39 of the previous thread I quoted in my opening post. Unfortunately the bit of the ensign where the defacing anchor would be is obscured, but the density differences on the B&W photo clearly indicate a blue ensign. (Somewhere else on the forum I remember reading a thread explaining about the use of safety film in the WW1 period and its lack of sensitivity to red.)

Roger

Thanks Roger.

I agree with the evidence of the blue ensign.

I had a look in 'Regulations for His Majesty's Transport Service' (printed 1915), and it's stated that transports of 4000 tons gross and upward are provided with Transport Ensigns in sizes 16 breadth (8 x 4 yards), 12 breadth (6 x 3 yards) and 4 breadth (2 x 1 yard), one of each. I'm guessing this applied to hospital ships as well. Looking at photos of the Britannic and estimating size, I think she normally flew the 12 breadth ensign from her stern flagpole.

Regards,

Ralph

[Ralph Currell]

Here's an example of the Transport Ensign on a hospital ship (my thanks to researcher Bob Read for spotting this).

The anchor is rather difficult to see against the blue background.

Regards,

Ralph

[KizmeRD]

Difficult to see it may be, but the horrizontal anchor is nevertheless discernible in the Pathe film frame. It supports the textual references supplied by both Roger and Ralph and some other evidence I've seen from an embroided tapestry produced by a crew member aboard HMHS China (see attached).

Michael

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The Government Service Ensign.

LF

[Old Cove]

Here's an example of the Transport Ensign on a hospital ship (my thanks to researcher Bob Read for spotting this).

Great spot!

For anyone interested in the various defaced ensigns and other flags and ensigns there is an HMSO Publication dated 1916 issued under the authority of the Admiralty called "Drawings Of The Flags In Use At The Present Time By Various Nations". One I came across while researching the hospital ship issue - I'm sure the vexillologists (I love that word!) will be familiar with it already. You can download it from archive.org

Roger

[Ralph Currell]

Thanks for the pointer to the flag publication, Roger.

One thing I noticed in reading through it is the absence of the Red Cross flag for hospital ships. It appears in the Italian and Japanese sections, but you'd think it would be treated as a universal flag. Or is it there and I missed it?

Regards,

Ralph

Edited 10 March , 2016 by Ralph Currell