HMHS Lanfranc
Introduction  '''HMHS ''Lanfranc''''' was a Booth Line passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1907 and operated scheduled services between Liverpool and Brazil until 1914.In the First World War she was a hospital ship until a U-boat sank her in the English Channel in 1917.This was the second ''Lanfranc'' in Booth's fleet. The first was an iron-hulled steamship that was built in 1884, sold in 1898 and renamed ''Olympia''.
Building Booth's operated scheduled cargo liner and passenger services between Europe and Brazil. In the first decade of the 20th century these services included regular sailings between Liverpool and Manaus,  up the Amazon River. A Booth passenger ship would leave Liverpool for Manaus on or about the 10th, 20th and 30th day of each month. ''Lanfranc'' was the first Booth ship with twin screws. Each screw was driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. Between them the two engines were rated at 850 NHP and gave her a speed of .The Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company of Dundee built ''Lanfranc'' for £122,000.She was launched on 18 October 1906 and completed in February 1907.She was registered in Liverpool. Her UK official number was 124034 and her code letters were HKDM. ''Lanfranc'' was joined by two sister ships. R&W Hawthorn, Leslie and Company launched ''Antony'' on 11 November 1906 and completed her in February 1907.Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering launched  on 31 March 1908 and completed her that August. ''Lanfranc''s tonnages were  and . She and her sisters were the largest ships in Booth's fleet until Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company launched ''Hildebrand'' in 1911.By 1913 ''Lanfranc'' had a wireless telegraphy installation aboard, operated by the Marconi Company. Her call sign was MDS.
First World War service and loss By September 1914 the British Admiralty had requisitioned several Booth ships, including ''Lanfranc'' and her sisters. ''Lanfranc'' was converted into a hospital ship with capacity for 403 wounded.The Hague Conventions protected hospital ships in wartime. They were painted white, with a broad green waistband and large red crosses. At night they were fully lit, unlike all other ships of the belligerent powers, which were blacked out. However, in the First World War the Central Powers attacked a number of hospital ships, so by 1917 Allied hospital ships were sailing blacked out and with naval escorts.The ambulance ship  was sunk on the same night as ''Lanfranc''On 17 April 1917 ''Lanfranc'' and an "ambulance ship", , embarked wounded personnel at Le Havre to take to England. ''Lanfranc'' embarked 234 British and 167 German wounded and departed for Southampton. 326 of the wounded were bed-ridden, many of them with serious wounds including fractured femurs and amputations.At about 1930 hrs  torpedoed ''Lanfranc'' about  north of Le Havre. 34 people were killed: 13 British wounded, 15 German wounded, five crew and one member of her RAMC personnel. Royal Navy patrol vessels rescued survivors, including 152 of the German wounded.On the same night  sank ''Donegal'', killing 40 of the people aboard.
See also * List of hospital ships sunk in World War I
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