Royal Naval Hospital (Hong Kong) was the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

's medical facility in the colony. The RNH began in 1841 in a matshed on the site of the

Wellington Barracks Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

. A typhoon destroyed the hospital and was temporarily located on HMS ''Minden'', a

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

sailing ship. This ship was replaced by HMS ''Alligator'' in 1846, a

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

frigate and HMS ''Melville'', another third-rate sailing ship in 1857. The hospital returned to shore briefly at the Seamen's Hospital in 1873 and then to the Mount Shadwell, now home to

Ruttonjee Hospital Ruttonjee Hospital is a district general hospital in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is affiliated with the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Hong Kong, and provides clinical attachment opportunities for the u ...

until it was destroyed during World War II. The funding for the Seamen's Hospital came from ''HMS Melville'', which was sold for HK$35,000, after which the proceeds were used to establish the shore facilities.Peter Davis
"The Royal Naval Hospital, Hong Kong"
Retrieved 2008-02-02. After the war the RNH was located on two floors of the Queen Mary Hospital. In 1946 the hospital relocated to the War Memorial Nursing Home on the Peak (Mount Kellett Road) until it was closed in 1956. The War Memorial Nursing Home merged with Matilda Hospital to form the Matilda and War Memorial Hospital, later renamed Matilda International Hospital. Naval medical services and patients were transferred to the

British Military Hospital, Hong Kong The British Military Hospital was a hospital in Hong Kong for the use of the British garrison. It was located at 10–12 Borrett Road from 1907 to 1967. It was built between 1903 and 1906, and officially opened on 1 July 1907. Often referred ...

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

after 1956.

References

External links

The Royal Naval Hospital, Hong Kong
British military hospitals Defunct hospitals in Hong Kong Hospitals established in 1841 1956 disestablishments in Hong Kong 1841 establishments in Hong Kong Royal Navy Medical Service {{HK-hospital-stub