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SS Relief

The US Army Hospital Ship Relief was built at Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1896 as the civilian passenger ship John Inglis. She was acquired by the Army in 1898 and served off Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Since the refitting of the Relief, belatedly purchased in May 1898 for use as a hospital ship, had not been completed when men began to fall ill, the Olivette, which had been functioning as the fleet's water-carrier, had to serve in her place. SS Relief, a converted passenger liner, was used by the US Army as a floating ambulance during the Spanish American War and later turned over to the US Navy. Following that conflict, Relief was employed in the Pacific, and transported sick and wounded men from the Philippines to the U.S.

Shortly after the Spanish-American War, the Russian and Japanese navies also employed hospital ships. Their successful use convinced the Navy's surgeon general of the value of maintaining a hospital ship during peacetime. After some discussion, the Navy Department acquired an old hospital ship, the Relief, from the War Department and renovated it. The Army transferred her to the U.S. Navy in November 1902. Beginning in 1908, she saw active naval service as USS Relief (1908-1919). For years, however, the ship sat idle because the Bureau of Navigation did not furnish a line officer to command it. One of the most important military medical issues concerned the command of hospital ships. Medical and line officers both wanted command authority. The issue was settled by President Theodore Roosevelt when he named Navy surgeon Charles Stokes to be the commanding officer of the new hospital ship Relief, which joined the Great White Fleet as it sailed around the world 1907-1908.

Relief was laid up from then until February 1908, when she was commissioned. After brief operations along the U.S. and Mexican west coasts, she accompanied the "Great White Fleet" across the Pacific. Several cases of scarlet fever which developed on board the battleship Nebraska since leaving San Francisco have been transferred to the hospital ship Relief. The fleet was scheduled to sail from Honolulu promptly at 6 pm, but there was some delay, and it was 6:15, as it appeared from shore, before the flagship began moving. It is thought the delay was due to waiting for the hospital ship Relief, which left the harbor at 6 pm.

She was detached at Olongapo, Philippine Islands, in November 1908, where the ship remained permanently. On 18-19 November, while beginning a return voyage to the U.S., Relief was seriously damaged in a typhoon and had to return to Olongapo. Surveyed and found unseaworthy, she spent the next decade there as a stationary hospital ship and dispensary. Her name was changed to Repose in April 1918. Sold in May 1919, she subsequently had a long career as a merchant ship in the China and Philippine areas.