File:090411-A-1786S-088_-_USNS_Comfort_(T-AH-20)_in_Hati.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
hospital ship
Sign in to saveship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- hospital
- Operator
- Royal Italian Navy
- Image
- Hospital ship-Esperanza del Mar.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- equivalent class
- rdf.muninn-project.org/ontologies/naval#HospitalShip
- described by source
- Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
- topic's main category
- Category:Hospital ships
- Commons category
- Hospital ships
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~19 min read
Encyclopedic overview
United States Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort in 2009. A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. In the 19th century, redundant warships were used as moored hospitals for seamen.
The Second Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits military attacks on hospital ships that meet specified requirements, though belligerent forces have right of inspection and may take patients, but not staff, as prisoners of war.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “hospital ship” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.