World War I Hospital Ship
Model of St. Andrew
An unfinished model of the St Andrew, a WWI hospital ship reveals amazing details in the construction of living quarters, a 'hospital' ward and soldier figures.
It was initially built by a surgeon who served on her. It is thought that the metal from Bully Beef
cans was used to construct the hull.
A Cork Harbour Master, the late Captain P Mullan, continued its construction.
MV St Andrew
The MV St Andrew was built in 1906 by John Brown & Co. Shipyard, Glasgow. She entered the Fishguard - Rosslare service in 1908. Her three almost identical sister ships St David, St. Patrick and St. George were already sailing this route and represented "the last word in luxury" at the time.
In 1914 she was taken over by the Ministry of Defence and commissioned as a Military Hospital (one of five in the first month of the war). The St Patrick and St David were also converted for use as hospital ships (the St George having been sold the previous year to the Canadian Pacific Railway Co.
Decommissioned in 1919, she was later renamed the MV Fishguard and withdrawn from service in 1933.
