Britannic as a mobile wartime hospital

The Admiralty requisitioned Britannic amid the medical demands of the eastern Mediterranean and converted her in less than a month. Cabins and public rooms became wards and operating spaces, supported by nurses, doctors, orderlies, technicians, and ship's crew. Her principal role was to stabilize casualties and carry them to British hospitals with fuller facilities and without the movement of a ship. She also spent several weeks as a floating hospital off the Isle of Wight when local hospitals faced an overflow of wounded. After her release in June 1916, conversion back to a passenger liner was intended to help maintain transatlantic communications with America. Renewed Mediterranean demand brought her back as a hospital ship in August. Naples became a regular coaling and water stop on the repeated evacuation voyages.