Le navire-hôpital Letitia pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale

Letitia (Donaldson Atlantic Line*) en service comme navire-hôpital de mille places pour la Royal Navy entre 1944 et 1946. (collection agence Adhémar)

Letitia, construit en 1924 aux chantiers Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Cy de Govan, est mis en service en avril 1925 sur la ligne Liverpool-Québec-Montréal (Halifax et St John's de Terre-Neuve en hiver) pour le compte d'Anchor-Donaldson Ltd* en compagnie d'Athenia. En service pour la nouvelle Donaldson Atlantic Line depuis 1935, il est réquisitionné par l'Amirauté britannique en 1939. Il est d'abord transformé en croiseur marchand armé puis, en 1941, en transport de troupe. Sévèrement endommagé en 1943, il est réparé et aménagé en navire-hôpital au Canada. Rendu à la vie civile en 1946, il est acheté par le ministère des transports britannique qui le confie à la

Donaldson Bros & Black Ltd sous le nom d'Empire Brent. Il reste en service vers l'Extrême-Orient, parfois comme transport de troupe ou comme bateau d'émigrants vers l'Australie, jusqu'en 1950. Il est alors loué par le gouvernement de Nouvelle-Zélande sous le nom de Captain Cook jusqu'en 1960 quand il est vendu à la casse.

* En 1916, l'Anchor-Donaldson Line est créée par la fusion des deux compagnies à parts égales. Anchor Line appartenait à la Cunard depuis 1912. Tous les navires provenaient de la

Donaldson Line et furent intégrés au service Clyde-Canada de l'Anchor Line. Deux de ceux-ci, Athenia et Letitia furent détruits en 1917. Ils furent remplacés en 1923-1924 par deux 13000 tonneaux auxquels on redonna les mêmes noms. Cunard étant entré au capital à hauteur de 130000 livres, ils furent construits sur les plans des A-Class de la grande compagnie. Cette aide permit de terminer Lutetia. En 1935, Anchor line fut mis en liquidation et Donaldson racheta ses parts. La compagnie fut renommée Donaldson Atlantic Line.

The SS Letitia was an ocean liner, built initially for service with the shipping firm Anchor-Donaldson Ltd*. She continued to serve with the successor company Donaldson Atlantic Line Ltd, and was requisitioned for service at the start of Second World War to serve as an armed merchant cruiser. She was withdrawn from this service in 1941 and became a troop ship. She was badly damaged in 1943 and on being repaired became a hospital ship in Canada. She was returned to civilian service in 1946 after the end of the war, and was bought by the Ministry of Transport, who assigned her to be managed by Donaldson Bros & Black Ltd as the Empire Brent. She sailed on a number of voyages, at times carrying troops to the Far East, as well as serving as an emigration ship to Australia. She was briefly laid up in 1950, but returned to service under charter from the Government of New Zealand as the Captain Cook. She was finally withdrawn from service in 1960 and was sold for scrapping.

*In 1916, a new company Anchor-Donaldson Line was formed to operate the passenger service to Canada, owned 50% by each company. Anchor Line had been owned by Cunard line since 1912. All the ships came from Donaldson Line, and they integrated into Anchor Line's own Clyde-Canada services. Two of the fleet, Athenia (1) and Letitia (1) were lost in 1917, so two 13000grt replacements were delivered in 1923/24, becoming Athenia (2) and Letitia (2). These ships were similar to Cunard's 13000grt A-Class. Cunard had to introduce capital of £300,000 to ensure the completion of Letitia (2). In 1935, Anchor Line went into voluntary liquidation, and Donaldson acquired their half of Anchor-Donaldson. The passenger route was renamed the Donaldson Atlantic Line.