U.S. ARMY HOSPITAL SHIP ''ACADIA''
ARRIVES AT CHARLESTON, S.C.

COURTESY, SOUTHERN BELL TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, INCORPORATED

U.S. Army Hospital Ships

The first ship to be operated as a hospital ship was the newly converted USAHS Acadia; one dietitian and two physical therapists were assigned on her maiden voyage, on 5 June 1943, to North African ports. Inasmuch as military status had been achieved by that time, authorizations were filled through normal assignment procedures and the necessity to use volunteers was obviated. The USAHS Seminole was the only other ship on which a physical therapist was assigned. When the Acadia returned to the United States with her first complement of war casualties, it was learned that the physical therapists' activities had been exceedingly limited because of lack of space and equipment and that excessive motion of the ship made bedside treatment difficult. In view of the acute shortage of physical therapists, it was The Surgeon General's opinion that their services could be better utilized in Zone of Interior hospitals. The Acadia had already departed for her second trip when this decision was announced, but on her return, the physical therapists were reassigned and their positions were deleted from the tables of organization for hospital ships.

Vessels used during the first 3 days carried surgical teams drawn from personnel of the 3d, 36th, and 43d General Hospitals, and the 59th Evacuation Hospital, all on the DRAGOON troop list. The USAHS John Clem, smallest of the hospital ships, carried only one surgical team, while the Acadia, with a capacity of 788 patients, carried 3. The Shamrock, Thistle, Algonquin, Chateau Thierry, and Emily Weder carried 2 surgical teams each.