Innocent Target: The Story of the HMHS Britannic

One of the great sisters of the RMS Titanic. The HMHS Britannic was laid down by Harland and Wolff, Belfast. Her official launch did not occur until February of 1914. She was a Hospital Ship, though her livery was planned to look like the Titanic, Under the name of Gigantic.

She served two successful years for White Star Line, but in 1916, She has her last voyage. She was sailing from Southampton to Lemnos. She made a stop around midnight, then kept on going. She took another stop at Naples. A storm kept the ship at Naples for the day. Captain Bartlett decided that they could make it. He once again left port. By November 21st, she was in the Kea Channel, between the Greek Island of Kea and Cape Sounion.

November 21st, 1916, 8:12 am. A very loud explosion shook the ship. It was believed to be from a mine or a torpedo. Not many took notice of the explosion. The reaction in the dining room though was different. Everybody in the dining room took notice of the explosion immediately. The explosion has damaged a few water tight bulkheads. They were quickly filling with water, and one of the boiler rooms had also been flooded. The Britannic was not the same as the Titanic. The Titanic could stay afloat with four bulkheads filled, the Britannic could not do that.

Near a half-hour later, the stewards started lowering lifeboats. After all of the lifeboats were loaded, Bartlett walked right into the ocean. He swam to a life boat to give coordinates for the survivors. Around 9:00 am, the ship collapsed on its starboard side, throwing over the funnels. Within the next few minutes, she was under water.

At 10:00 am, the lifeboats were spotted by a war ship, the HMS Scourge. There were 30 lives lost that day, About 600 less people than the Titanic wreck.

She is currently nearly completely crushed. It is said to be the largest shipwreck of its time.

"Hospital Ship Britannic - History." Hospital Ship Britannic. 2000. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://www.hospitalshipbritannic.com/history.htm>.

"HMHS Britannic." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, inc, Web. 14 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Britannic>.