USNS Comfort

Medical aid for the Haiti earthquake is now a military-style op. At least 19 countries, including Canada, Great Satan, Mexico, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Little Satan, Nippon, China, Portugal, Commonwealth Russia, Spain, Great Britain, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador provided manpower, supplies or financial aid to Haiti, while the most immediate foreign assistance was being provided by military and humanitarian contingents from neighboring Dominican Republic.

And nothing comes close to USNS Comfort (T-AH-20)

No near world competitors have anything like her - and no diss meant - no Chinese or Iranian Carrier Groups or Pakistan flotillas have yet arrived.


She is the third Great Satan Navy ship to bear the name Comfort, and the second Mercy Class Hospital Ship to join the navy fleet. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, USNS Comfort and her crew do not carry any ordnance and firing on the Comfort is considered a war crime.

Like her sister ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19), Comfort was built as an oil tanker in 1976 by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company. Her original name was SS Rose City and she was launched from San Diego, California.

Her career as an oil tanker ended when she was delivered to the Navy on December 1, 1987. Now, as a hospital ship, Comfort's new duties include providing emergency, on-site care for U.S. combatant forces deployed in war or other operations. Operated by the Military Sealift Command, Comfort provides rapid, flexible, and mobile medical and surgical services to support Marine Corps Air/Ground Task Forces deployed ashore, Army and Air Force units deployed ashore, and naval amphibious task forces and battle forces afloat.

Secondarily, she provides mobile surgical hospital service for use by appropriate US Government agencies in disaster or humanitarian relief or limited humanitarian care incident to these missions or peacetime military operations.

When not actively deployed, Comfort is kept in a state of reduced operations in Baltimore harbor. She has been used many times over the years and has been ready to ship out of Baltimore with 5 days' notice.

Patient Capacity:
Intensive care wards: 80 beds
Recovery wards: 20 beds
Intermediate care wards: 280 beds
Light care wards: 120 beds
Limited care wards: 500 beds
Total Patient Capacity: 1000 beds
Operating Rooms: 12
Departments and Facilities:
Casualty reception
Intensive care unit
Radiological services
Main laboratory plus satellite lab
Central sterile receiving
Medical supply/pharmacy
Physical therapy and burn care
Dental services
Optometry/lens lab
Morgue
Laundry
Oxygen producing plants (two)
Medical Photography
Four distilling plants to make drinking water from sea water (300,000 gallons per day)
Flight deck can handle world's largest military helicopters (CH-53D, CH-53E, MH-53E, Mi-17)

Pic "USNS Comfort"