White Star Line naval mine, while in service as a hospital ship. "Britannic" was the largest loss for the company, and also the largest ship sunk during the conflict. 1916 also saw the loss of the liner "Cymric" which was torpedoed off the Irish coast in May, and also of the cargo ship "Georgic", which was scuttled in December with its cargo of 1,200 horses still on board, after being intercepted in the Atlantic by the German merchant raider . 1917 saw the loss of the liner "Laurentic" in January which struck a mine off the Irish coast and sank with the loss
Hospital ship serving in this capacity. By the end of the First World War, The British Royal Navy had 77 such ships in service. During the Gallipoli Campaign, hospital ships were used to evacuate over 100,000 wounded personnel to Egypt. Canada operated hospital ships in both world wars. In World War I these included SS "Letitia" (I) and which was deliberately sunk by a German U-boat with great loss of life, despite the hospital ship's clearly marked status. In World War II, Canada operated the hospital ship and SS "Letitia (II). The first purposely built hospital ship in the U.S. Navy was