Sinking
On 25 February 1918, Glenart Castle left Newport, South Wales, heading towards Brest, France, to collect patients. After 3:00 on 26 February, fishermen in the Bristol Channel saw her clearly lit up as a hospital ship. John Hill — a fisherman on Swansea Castle — remembered "I saw the Hospital Ship with green lights all around her – around the saloon. She had her red side lights showing and mast-head light, and also another red light which I suppose was the Red Cross light."[5] A little before 04:00, Glenart Castle was hit by a torpedo fired from the German U-boat SMU UC-56 in the No. 3 hold.[1] The blast destroyed most of the lifeboats, while the subsequent pitch of the vessel hindered attempts to launch the remaining boats. In the seven to eight minutes the ship took to sink, accounts varied as to how many lifeboats were launched, but only one lifeboat carrying 22 men survived the night on rough seas. The men bailed constantly in wintry conditions to avoid being swamped. They were rescued by a French boat, Feon, around 10:30. Four rafts bearing nine more men were located by USS Parker between 13:00 and 15:00. Fireman Jesse White washed astern in his exhausted state and was injured by Parker's propeller. White died on board. One man was unconscious when rescued and died in hospital the next day having never recovered consciousness. He was subsequently identified as Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) Private Samuel "Harry" Lund. The body of wireless operator Michael Sinnott was recovered off Trevose Head, Cornwall, on 2 March 1918.[6]
The most likely figures are that 182 were on board, of whom 29 survived. A total of 153 people were killed. Ninety-five of 120 crew died, including Captain Bernard Burt who had given the order "Every Man For Himself" before he was last seen retiring to the chart room. Both chaplains, 48 of 52 RAMC personnel, and all eight nurses of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service died.[7] The matron of Glenart Castle, Kate Beaufoy, was among those killed in the sinking. Beaufoy was a veteran of the South African War and the Gallipoli campaign.[8] Her family kept her diary and her writings describe life on the ship. Also killed was Staff Nurse Edith Blake, the only Australian nurse killed in action in the First World War. Having trained at the Coast Hospital (later Prince Henry Hospital) in Sydney, she volunteered to serve and was one of almost 130 Australian nurses allotted to the QAIMNS. [9] She nursed at 1 Australian General Hospital in Cairo and 17 British General Hospital in Alexandria, on HMHS Essequibo and nursed Germans at Belmont Prisoners of War Hospital, Surrey before joining Glenart Castle. She described her war service in detailed letters home to her family.[10]
Newspaper reports suggested that the submarine may have shot at initial survivors of the sinking in an effort to cover up the sinking of Glenart Castle. The body of a junior officer of Glenart Castle was recovered from the water close to the position of the sinking. It was marked with two gunshot wounds, one in the neck and the other in the thigh.[11] The body also had a life vest indicating he was shot while in the water.[1] However, official records do not support this story.[12]
