Only a few countries have hospital ships, despite the great advantages. A possibility for Germany?

The Helgoland's mission in Vietnam ended 50 years ago. As a hospital ship in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1972, it was the German response to the American request for military assistance. The German government had the seaside resort ship converted into a hospital ship with 150 hospital beds. The German Red Cross took over the sponsorship. The Helgoland's first mission took it to Saigon, after which it was transferred to Da Nang in the north. At that time, the important US Army base with its 350,000 inhabitants had just 500 hospital beds for the population. Around 12,000 people were treated as inpatients, in addition to 70,000 initial consultations and 130,000 multiple consultations in the outpatient department. Around 56,000 X-rays were taken, almost 11,000 operations were performed and the same number of whole blood units were used.

The term hospital ship goes back to the Order of St John of Jerusalem, which donated a troop ship, the Santa Maria, in 1523 to serve as a hospital. At the end of 1608, HMS Goodwill, registered as a hospital ship, briefly accompanied a Royal Navy squadron to the Mediterranean. At the time, it was used to transport the wounded to the nearest harbour rather than to provide medical care. Over 90 hospital ships served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.