HMHS Dover Castle (His Majesty's Hospital Ship) was a steam ship originally built for the Union-Castle Line and launched in 1904. In 1914 she was requisitioned for use as a British hospital ship during the First World War. On 26 May 1917 she was torpedoed 50 nmi north of Bône, Algeria by the submarine SMU UC-67 of the Imperial German Navy.
History
Dover Castle was built by Barclay Curle & Company, Glasgow as yard number 443, in 1904 and launched on 4 February 1904. She was powered by quadruple expansion stream engines. She was built as a combined passenger and cargo vessel for the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company, of London.
On 4 October 1916, RMS Franconia (1910), while heading for Salonika, was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat SMU UB-47 195 nmi east of Malta. She was not carrying any troops but out of her 314 crew members, 12 died. The others (302) were saved by Dover Castle.[3]