Hospital Ship

Article about the hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designed to transport patients from a duty station or military camp to the nearest hospital or medical facility. The word "hospital" comes from the Latin "hospitium", which means a place to house and treat wounded soldiers. One of the first known hospital ships was Cilicius, which was built in the 13th century in Cyprus. It was used to transport wounded soldiers to hospital for treatment and rehabilitation. Hospital ships were especially important during