a mobile field surgical hospital.
on a ship space is at a premium so major hospital ships would be rare. ships consisting of small hospitals and lots of low berths would be much more efficient.
from the spinward marches colonial fleet:
Our Lady One-class Hospital Ship
Hospital ships in the Spinward Marches are often sponsored by individual major hospitals, carrying their name and some of their medical staff. Since so many of these hospitals are named Our Lady then a number is included in that name and in other duplicated names (such as Our Lady Twenty and Zion Six). This ship's sole function is to rescue and retrieve casualties during and after a battle, providing some medical treatment but mostly placing all rescuees in cold sleep until they can be returned to the nearest friendly naval base or ship. Interstellar law (where such laws are followed) requires several things of such a vessel: it must carry no offensive weapons and must never participate in military action, it must allow any inspection team from any agency to board it at any reasonable time, it must never hide or evade, and while it is expected to focus on its own sides' casualties as a matter of course it must also make a reasonable effort to rescue enemy casualties as well and treat them with the same care it treats its own. In return hospital ships enjoy neutrality status. Ladys are built at tech 13 yards exclusively.
Hospital ships usually operate by sending out their four 20 dton rescue gigs. Each carries a laser for major cutting operations, a full range of engineering and entry and retrieval tools, and spare air, and is manned by a pilot, a mechanic/electrician, a nurse, and a pair of rescue technicians. All personnel carry incapacitating sidearms for encounters with fanatical or disoriented rescuees.
OUR LADY ONE-CLASS HOSPITAL SHIP
4000 ton flattened sphere streamlined hull, tech 13, ordinary launch facilities, enhanced station endurance (ten months).
TONNAGE ALLOCATIONS
80 bridge
200 jump 4
1600 jump fuel for four parsecs
200 maneuver drive 2
320 power plant (160 energy points)
160 power plant fuel
45 fuel purifier
160 ship's cargo
20 two factor 9 sand batteries
20 one factor 3 nuclear damper screen
66 three crew lifeboats
104 four rescue gigs
240 60 crew staterooms
(command 8, gunnery 6,
engineering 16, service 11,
doctors 4, nurses 4, rescue 4, +1)
25 hospital
25 medical and rescue gear
28 seven hospital ward staterooms
700 900 low berths
7 remainder
(HG2 rules without dtonnage for computers. my rules have since changed so I have to redo this one, but it would be similar.)
(I find it helpful to run the players through one mini-adventure during character generation. running a rescue gig on a battle recovery mission would be a great char-gen adventure for your player's pilot medic.)
