Dreadnought Library

From Hospital Ship to Books

The Dreadnought, Hospital Ship for Seamen, at Greenwich. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 28 May 1870.

The name, “Dreadnought,” is commonly assumed to be a huge battleship— a floating castle of steel able to hurl massive shells at an enemy which was developed in the early years of the twentieth century.¹ The Star Wars movies brought the name, “Dreadnought” to late 20th century audiences with the Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts 62,000 ft in length, propelled by thirteen colossal engines 5,000 turboloaders, ion cannons and tractor beam projectors. The crew of the Executor numbered in the hundreds of thousands. ²

HMS Dreadnought, a hospital ship for Seamen

But “Dreadnought” was also the name of a hospital ship. After the Napoleonic Wars seamen who had fought for England were seen roaming the streets of London, homeless, friendless, unemployed, and suffering from scurvy, smallpox and cholera. In 1818 a fund from contributions made by the general public for the temporary relief of distressed mariners was established. This led to the planning of a hospital solely for seamen that would treat them during illness and find them work in other ships after discharge from medical care. The Seamen's Hospital Society owes its origin to the committee appointed to manage this first fund. A ship, Grampus, was used as a hospital.

"Sailors in general are bred up to their occupation from early youth and retain few of the habits of persons employed on shore. They appear to have no conception of the possible approach of misery until it is too late to escape it. If informed of or directed to hospitals, asylums or other places of relief ashore which do not bear the name Seamen's they are unwilling to approach them and will submit to be driven to such receptacles-only by extreme misery. They will remain on board their ships, rather than consent to be taken to a hospital on shore, although with the prospect of returning health. This is well known to every person acquainted with the habits of these peculiar beings."

By 1824 the hospital had admitted and treated 3369 patients. In 1831 it became clear that the Grampus was no longer large enough, and the Admiralty replaced her with a larger hulk, the HMS Dreadnought, which had served at Trafalgar. She could accommodate 250 patients and 150 convalescents.³

The Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital/Library

In 1871 the hospital came ashore.⁴ The hospital became a National Health Service hospital specialist unit, still ministering to sailors, but was closed in 1986.⁵

The hospital fell into an advanced state of decay and disrepair, necessitating wholesale replacement in 1998-1999 of timber and plasterwork.

It was converted to a library by the University of Greenwich in 1998 and 1999.⁶

The Dreadnought Library has a maritime theme: deck-like structured horizontal pierced beams support the main glass roof. Green yard arms were attached to this, supporting guttering with rainwater pipes concealed within them. Due to the rainwater pipes, when water passes through them, the sound of the water replicates the sound of being at sea.⁷

Dreadnought Library - University of Greenwich.

1. Massie Robert K. 1991. Dreadnought : Britain Germany and the Coming of the Great War. 1st ed. New York: Random House; Massie Robert K. 2003. Castles of Steel : Britain Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. 1st ed. New York: Random House. On the eve of the war in August 1914, Great Britain and Germany possessed the two greatest navies the world had ever seen. When war came, these two fleets of dreadnoughts-gigantic floating castles of steel able to hurl massive shells at an enemy miles away-were ready to test their terrible power against each other. Their struggles took place in the North Sea and the Pacific, at the Falkland Islands and the Dardanelles. They reached their climax when Germany, suffocated by an implacable naval blockade, decided to strike against the British ring of steel. The result was Jutland, a titanic clash of fifty-eight dreadnoughts, each the home of a thousand men.

2. Dougherty, Kerrie. (2020). Star Wars Complete Vehicles New Edition. United States: DK Publishing.

3. Goldsmith, E, and A G McBride. “Dreadnought Seamen’s Hospital.” BMJ 1.6024 (1976): 1511–1513. Web.

4. Seafarers Hospital Society (seahospital.org.uk)

5. The Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital/Library.

6. “Nurse Returns to Dreadnought Hospital after 65 Years to See Its Launch as University of Greenwich Library.” Journal of advanced nursing 31.5 (2000)

7. Dreadnought Library - University of Greenwich.