By Bill Thawley

In response to the Mississippi River floods of 1882-1884, the “John V. Troop” was the first ship to fly the Red Cross flag. Clara Barton used the ship to deliver relief supplies, including animals, down the Mississippi from Cairo, Illinois. The ship was not owned by the Red Cross but chartered for sixty dollars per day.

The “USS Solace” was the second ship to fly the Red Cross flag. She was built in 1896-1897 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co, in Newport News, Virginia. Initially, she was operated as the “SS Creole” by the Cromwell Steamship Lines. The ship was acquired by the United States Navy on April 7, 1898, renamed the “Solace”, and converted into a hospital ship. She was officially commissioned by the Navy on April 14, 1898. She served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and made many trips to the United States mainland with wounded and malarial- stricken American forces.

On September 12, 1914, the Red Cross “Mercy Ship” sailed to Europe with medical staff and supplies following the outbreak of World War I. Jane Delano, who founded the Red Cross Nursing Service, helped staff the ship with nurses. Although the ship was officially named the “SS Red Cross,” it was better known as “The Mercy Ship.” It carried 170 surgeons and nurses who were sent to Europe to provide medical relief to combat casualties on both sides of the war.

The Second Geneva Convention of 1949 regulated what hospital ships should look like and the flags they should display. Hospital ships must be painted white. Military ships must have a green band, and those operated by approved relief societies must have a red band.

Ships functioning as hospitals must fly a national flag and a Red Cross flag. Relief or humanitarian mission ships may not be used for any military purpose nor interfere with or hamper enemy combatant vessels. They must give medical assistance to wounded personnel of all nationalities. Belligerent vessels, as designated by the Hague Convention, can search any hospital ship to investigate violations of the international restrictions.

The current hospital ships of the United States Navy are the “USNS Comfort” and “USNS Mercy.” They have been used for aid missions around the world.