USNS ''Comfort'' (T-AH-20) is a of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
.
''Comfort''s 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 and 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 U.S. government agencies in disaster or humanitarian relief or limited humanitarian care incident to these missions or peacetime military operations. ''Comfort'' is more advanced than a
field hospital
A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...
but less capable than a traditional hospital on land.
From 30 March to 30 April 2020, ''Comfort'' was stationed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to help combat the
city's coronavirus pandemic by treating non-coronavirus, and later on, coronavirus-positive patients.
Complement
The
USNS
United States Naval Ship (USNS) is the prefix designation given to non- commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy (USN).
Definition
United States Naval Ships are unarmed auxiliary support vessels owned by the U.S. Navy ...
prefix identifies ''Comfort'' as a non-commissioned ship owned by the U.S. Navy and operationally crewed by civilians from the
Military Sealift Command (MSC). A uniformed naval hospital staff and naval support staff is embarked when ''Comfort'' is deployed, said staffs consisting primarily of naval officers from the Navy's
Medical Corps
A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians.
List of medical corps
The following organizations are examples of medica ...
,
Dental Corps,
Medical Service Corps,
Nurse Corps, and
Chaplain Corps, and naval enlisted personnel from the
Hospital Corpsman
A hospital corpsman (HM r corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist of the United States Navy, who may also serve in a U.S. Marine Corps unit. The corresponding rating within the United States Coast Guard is health services technician (HS ...
rating and various administrative and technical support ratings (e.g.,
Yeoman
Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century also witn ...
,
Personnel Specialist,
Information Systems Technician An information systems technician is a technician of an industrial occupation whose responsibility is maintaining communications and computer systems.
Description
Information systems technicians operate and maintain information systems, facilitatin ...
,
Religious Program Specialist, etc.).
In accordance with the
Geneva Conventions
upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864
The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conve ...
, ''Comfort'' and her crew carry no offensive weapons. Firing upon ''Comfort'' would be considered a
war crime as the ship only carries weapons for self-defense. In keeping with her status as a non-combatant vessel, naval personnel from the combat specialties are not assigned as regular crew or staff. Underway
embarks by Navy
Unrestricted Line officers (e.g., warfare qualified combat specialties), enlisted Naval Aviation, Surface Warfare, Submarine Warfare, Special Operations or Special Warfare/
SEAL
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
personnel, or any
Marine Corps
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
officers or enlisted personnel, are typically limited to official visits, helicopter or
tilt-rotor
A tiltrotor is an aircraft which generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a tran ...
flight operations or as patients.
Construction and conversion
![Image-USNS Comfort - Engine Room](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Image-USNS_Comfort_-_Engine_Room.jpg)
Like her sister ship , ''Comfort'' was built as a
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...
in 1976 by the
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is an American shipbuilding company with three shipyards located in San Diego, Norfolk and Mayport. It is a division of General Dynamics. The San Diego shipyard specializes ...
. Her original name was SS ''Rose City'' and she was launched from
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
.
She is the third
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
ship to bear the name ''Comfort,'' and the second ''Mercy''-class hospital ship. Her career as an oil tanker ended when she was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 1 December 1987.
After a quarter-century in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, ''Comfort'' changed her homeport to
Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hampt ...
in
Norfolk, Virginia in March 2013. The move placed the ship closer to supplies, much of which come from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, and to medical crew. Savings to the U.S. Navy are estimated at $2 million per year.
Deployments
Persian Gulf War (1990–91)
During the
Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
's
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
, ''Comfort'' received a call to activate for Desert Shield/Desert Storm 9 August 1990 and departed Baltimore 11 August. ''Comfort'' was positioned in proximity to
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
, just off the coast of
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
near
Khafji. On 12 March 1991, ''Comfort'' was under way on her return trip home. She arrived in Baltimore on 15 April 1991. While deployed, ''Comfort'' traveled more than and consumed almost of fuel. More than 8,000 outpatients were seen, and 700 inpatients were admitted including four sailors injured in a high-pressure steam leak on . 337 surgical procedures were performed. Other notable benchmarks include: more than 2,100 safe helicopter activities; 7,000 prescriptions filled; 17,000 laboratory tests completed; 1,600 eyeglasses made; 800,000 meals served and 1,340 radiographic studies, including 141
CT scans.
Operation Sea Signal (1994)
''Comfort'' was ordered to activation to serve as migrant processing center for
Haitian migrants in 1994. During this mission, ''Comfort'' served as the first afloat migrant processing center. She set out for the Caribbean with a crew of 928 military and civilian personnel from various federal government and international agencies. On 16 June 1994 the first Haitian migrants were taken aboard. Over the months deployed, the population onboard swelled to 1,100. Shortly after, ''Comfort'' was ordered to discontinue processing and sailed for
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base ( es, Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the U.S. military) is a United States military bas ...
, Cuba to drop off the remaining 400 migrants.
Operation Uphold Democracy (1994)
On 2 September 1994, ''Comfort'' was again directed to activate for an unprecedented second deployment. ''Comfort'' was tasked to provide a 250-bed medically intensive patient capability for the 35,000
Cuban
Cuban may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean
* Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent
** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof
* Cuban citizen, a perso ...
and
Haitian migrants supported by Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ''Comfort'' departed Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia, with a specially configured crew of 566 personnel. Following the diplomatic agreement reached between the United States and
Haiti, ''Comfort'' took up a position off
Port-au-Prince ready to receive casualties that might result from the transfer of U.S. and allied forces ashore. From 16 September through 2 October 1994, ''Comfort'' personnel provided both medical and surgical support to U.S. and allied forces ashore and afloat, emergency humanitarian care to injured Haitian citizens, and participated in various aspects of the Civil Affairs Program in an effort to aid the rebuilding effort of the local healthcare system. She returned to Norfolk on 14 October 1994.
Operation Noble Eagle (2001)
''Comfort'' was activated the afternoon of 11 September 2001, in response to the terrorist attack on the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
and sailed the next afternoon to serve as a 250-bed hospital facility at Pier 92 in midtown
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The ship arrived at Pier 92 in Manhattan at about 8:30 p.m. 14 September. That evening a small number of relief workers arrived aboard the ship. As word about the ship spread, more workers began arriving over the next few days. The ship's clinic saw 561 guests for cuts, respiratory ailments, fractures, and other minor injuries, and ''Comfort''s team of Navy psychology personnel provided 500 mental health consultations to relief workers. ''Comfort'' also hosted a group of volunteer New York area massage therapists who gave 1,359 therapeutic medical massages to ship guests.
Iraq War (2002–03)
![Dean Bradford and Princess Anne](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Dean_Bradford_and_Princess_Anne.jpg)
''Comfort'' was ordered to activate on 26 December 2002, and set sail for the
U.S. Central Command
The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...
area of operations on 6 January 2003. After stopping in
Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...
to embark additional medical personnel flown in from the National Naval Medical Center, the ship proceeded to the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
to serve as an afloat trauma center in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. ''Comfort'' remained in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
for 56 days providing expert medical care to wounded U.S. military personnel as well as injured
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i civilians and enemy prisoners of war. When ''Comfort'' returned to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
on 12 June 2003, it marked the completion of a nearly six-month activation. During this time, the ship conducted more than 800 helicopter deck landings to bring aboard personnel, patients, and cargo. ''Comfort''s Medical Treatment Facility had also performed 590 surgical procedures, transfused more than 600 units of blood, developed more than 8,000 radiographic images, and treated nearly 700 patients, including almost 200 Iraqi civilians and enemy prisoners of war.
Hurricane Katrina (2005)
![USNS Comfort (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/USNS_Comfort_%28cropped%29.jpg)
''Comfort'' deployed on 2 September 2005, after only a two-day preparation, to assist in Gulf Coast recovery efforts after the devastation of
Hurricane Katrina. Starting in
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport– Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 2 ...
and then sailing to
, ''Comfort'' personnel saw 1,956 patients total. She returned on 13 October 2005 after a 7-week deployment.
Partnership for the Americas (2007)
''Comfort''s Partnership for the Americas humanitarian mission, which began on 15 June 2007, was a major component of the President's "Advancing the Cause of Social Justice in the Western Hemisphere" initiative. ''Comfort'' visited 12 Central American, South American, and Caribbean nations where her embarked medical crew provided free health care services to communities in need. The missions objective was to offer valuable training to U.S. military personnel while promoting U.S. goodwill in the region. In all, the civilian and military medical team treated more than 98,000 patients, provided 386,000 patient encounters and performed 1,100 surgeries.
The embarked medical crew was made up of more than 500 military and
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
(Project Hope and Operation Smile) doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals. Their primary focus was to support medical humanitarian assistance efforts ashore. A secondary mission was outpatient shipboard health service support.
Also supporting ''Comfort''s medical mission was a
SEABEE
, colors =
, mascot = Bumblebee
, battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...
detachment from the East Coast-based Mobile Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202, which performed civic action repair and minor construction projects in the host countries. Also on the deployment was the U.S. Navy Showband from
Norfolk, Virginia, which performed in each port.
''Comfort'' was operated and navigated by a crew of 68 civil service mariners (CIVMARS) from the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC).
This mission incorporated various non-government organizations and government agencies, such as Operation Smile, Project Hope,
LDS Humanitarian Services
Latter-day Saint Charities (formerly known as "LDS Humanitarian Services") is a branch of the welfare department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The organization's stated mission is to relieve suffering, to fost ...
, the Atlanta Rotary Club, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Health and Human Services and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Patient encounters included a single patient receiving multiple treatments, students in training sessions, and even veterinary care services.
Dentists and staff treated 25,000 patients, extracting 300 teeth, and performing 4,000 fillings, 7,000 sealings, and 20,000 fluoride applications. In addition to treating patients, bio-medical professionals fixed about a thousand pieces of medical equipment at local health facilities. The ship's crew also delivered nearly $200,000 worth of donated humanitarian aid.
Operation Unified Response (2010)
![Haiti earthquake 2010 relief USNS COMFORT ako-400-20100122-web100120n1240o414](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Haiti_earthquake_2010_relief_USNS_COMFORT_ako-400-20100122-web100120n1240o414.jpg)
On 13 January 2010, ''Comfort'' was ordered to assist in the humanitarian relief efforts following the
2010 Haiti earthquake
A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...
as part of
Operation Unified Response
Operation Unified Response was the United States military's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. It was conducted by Joint Task Force Haiti and commanded by United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Military Deputy Commander Lieutenant Gen ...
. Three days later on 16 January ''Comfort'' left the
Port of Baltimore
Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facilities fo ...
bound for
Haiti. She arrived Wednesday, 20 January 2010 and began medical treatment early that day. The deployment marks the first time the ship has reached full operational capacity, utilizing all 12 operating rooms and 1,000 beds, since she was delivered to the Navy in 1987. The mission also saw the ship's first on-board delivery, of a 4-pound, 5-ounce
premature baby named Esther. Although the ship is less capable than a traditional hospital on land, she offered the most advanced medical care available in Haiti following the earthquake.
Between 19 January and 28 February 2010 the ship's staff treated 1,000 Haitian patients and performed 850 surgeries. By 8 March 2010, ''Comfort'' had discharged the last patient.
On 10 March 2010, the ship ended her mission in the
Joint Task Force Haiti area as part of
Operation Unified Response
Operation Unified Response was the United States military's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. It was conducted by Joint Task Force Haiti and commanded by United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) Military Deputy Commander Lieutenant Gen ...
, and returned to her home port.
Operation Continuing Promise (2011)
In 2011, the ship deployed on
Operation Continuing Promise. The ship deployed for five months providing medical and surgical services to nine locations in the Caribbean and Latin America – Jamaica, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Haiti. The ship's crew set up medical and surgical civil action program sites. These temporary medical clinics included primary care, internal medicine, obstetrics, and pediatric physicians as well as optometry, physical therapy, dental, radiology, laboratory, and pharmacy services. On board the ship general surgery, ophthalmology, oral and maxillofacial, and orthopedic surgeries were performed on pre-screened patients.
The mission included a Navy
SeaBee
, colors =
, mascot = Bumblebee
, battles = Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippin ...
(Construction Battalion) Unit, a Navy helo squadron, the
United States Navy Band and a Navy Security Force unit. US Army veterinarians and veterinary technicians, US Air Force biomedical repair technicians, and dentists and dental technicians from the Canadian Navy also participated.
Although it was primarily a medical/humanitarian mission, several programs and projects, commonly referred to as Community Relations (COMREL) projects were also provided to the local populace throughout the mission. Veterinarians worked with local farmers on pest control and vaccinations, SeaBees completed building improvements in local schools and other facilities, Navy Band was a staple in all programs involving US military personnel and local government officials.
Hurricane Maria (2017)
On 29 September 2017, the ship set sail for Puerto Rico to bring assistance to the island after
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...
had hit it nine days earlier. She arrived the evening of 3 October 2017. While in San Juan, ''Comfort'' hosted a summit with key stakeholders to synchronize efforts for the ship's mission throughout the area. The ship's 835 personnel partnered with Federal DMAT teams DMAT/''COMFORT'' partnership and evaluated 6,003 patients, 1,912 patients were sent to ''Comfort'' 290 patients admitted, and 192 surgeries performed. She provided over 40,000 lab tests, over 16,000 prescriptions, 343 CT scans, and 1,169 radiology studies. Dental services provided acute dental care for 312 patients. However, she was there to support the sickest patients on the island. ''Comfort''s 50-bed ICU had the highest acuity patients of any military hospital in the world. The ship acted as a support structure for all the islands hospitals taking their sickest ICU patients, the only oxygen producing plant on the island, she filled every hospital's oxygen tanks to help them support their patients. Additionally her sterilizers were used to sterilize, clean, and wrap surgery kits for multiple hospitals, using her ability to be a force multiplier allowing other hospitals to continue to provide care, and surgeries while they stabilized their power and facilities. She provided life saving care, including dialysis as well as fixed dialysis shunts and placed portacath shunts as the only working interventional radiology capability. This along with partnering with Puerto Rico's Health Department was able to diagnose cancers and assist in getting patients started on cancer therapy. She even had two births on board after receiving mothers who had been in labor in hallways for days. Her skilled providers provided necessary orthopedic surgeries, provided CT scans for her patients or ones referred from one of the other over 60 hospitals on island. This was at a cost of about $180,000 a day. As the island infrastructure improved the admission rate to the ship declined to 1% of patients presenting, she was ordered home on 17 November.
Operation Enduring Promise (2018)
![USNS Comfort in Peru 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/USNS_Comfort_in_Peru_2018.jpg)
In October 2018, ''Comfort'' departed for an eleven-week operation in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, with a primary mission being to assist countries that received refugees who fled the
crisis in Venezuela
The crisis in Venezuela is an ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis that began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened in Nicolás Maduro's presidency. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation ...
. The main goal was to relieve health systems in
Colombia,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
and Honduras, which faced the arrival of thousands of Venezuelan migrants. She provided care for nearly 27,000 patients and performed 599 surgeries in 23 clinical days in five stops in four countries.
New York COVID-19 response (2020)
![USNS Comfort COVID-19 Response Infographic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/USNS_Comfort_COVID-19_Response_Infographic.jpg)
''Comfort'' began deployment from
Norfolk, Virginia, to
New York Harbor on 28 March to help deal with the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. ''Comfort'' arrived in New York on 30 March 2020.
Initially, her mission was to treat patients who did not have the virus, freeing up land-based hospitals to focus on patients with
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
.
[ But later half of the ship's 1000 beds were removed so that she could isolate and treat coronavirus patients.] On 6 April 2020, COVID-19 patients were allowed onto the ship. One day later, the Navy announced that one crew member aboard ''Comfort'' had tested positive for the coronavirus and that several other crew members were put into isolation.
On 17 April the U.S. Northern Command announced that "the USNS ''COMFORT'' is prepared to admit patients within a one-hour traveling radius from the ship", and preparations were made to receive coronavirus patients from the Philadelphia area.[ On 21 April, Governor ]Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...
told President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
that the ship was no longer needed in New York. ''Comfort'' departed on 30 April, having treated 179 patients.
Awards and decorations
* Combat Action Ribbon
The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR, ), is a high precedence United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or ...
– (26 Feb 1991)
* Joint Meritorious Unit Award
The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritor ...
– (Apr 1991–Dec 1996) Operation Provide Comfort
Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern I ...
* Navy Unit Commendation – (Aug 1990–Mar 1991, May–Jul 1994)
* Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation – (Sep 1994–Mar 1995, Sep 2001–Jun 2005, Jun–Oct 2007)
* Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, after ...
– (Sep–Oct 1994)
* Southwest Asia Service Medal – (Aug 1990–Mar 1991)
* Humanitarian Service Medal
The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (includ ...
– (Sep–Oct 2001, Sep–Oct 2005, Jan–Feb 2010, Sep–Nov 2017)
In 2008, the United Seamen's Service
The United Seamen's Service, sometimes abbreviated as the USS, is a non-profit, federally chartered organization founded in 1942 to promote the welfare of American seafarers and their dependents, seafarers of all nations, US government military ...
at its annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea Awards (AOTOS) event honored the masters and crews of hospital ships ''Comfort'' and ''Mercy'' with special Humanitarian Service Recognition Mariner's Plaques for their respective four-month humanitarian deployments to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2007 and Southeast Asia and the Pacific in 2008.
General characteristics
* Specifications[Norman Polmar, ''The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U. S. Fleet'', Eighteenth Edition, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 2005 (), pp. 264-266.]
** Displacement:
*** Full Load: 69,390 Tons
*** Light: 24,275 Tons
** Length:
*** Overall: 894 Feet (272.6 Meters)
*** Waterline: Feet (260.6 Meters)
** Beam: Feet (32.25 Meters)
** Draft: Feet (10.0 Meters)
** Propulsion: 1 Steam Turbine, 2 Boilers, 1 Shaft,
** Speed: 17.5 Knots
** Range: 13,400 Nautical Miles (24,817 Kilometers) at
** Personnel:
*** Merchant Marine: 16 ROS; 61 Active
*** Navy Communications & Support: 58 (6 Officers, 52 Enlisted)
*** Medical and Dental (Active Only): 1,156
** Aviation: Helicopter Landing Platform, 1 Spot
** Radars: SPS-67 Surface Search
* 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
** Blood bank
** 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 ( per day)
References
''Notice: This article incorporates material taken from the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
website of USNS'' Comfort ''a
Comfort.navy.mil
''
External links
USNS ''Comfort''
Command Home Page
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Comfort, T-Ah-20
1976 ships
2010 Haiti earthquake relief
Hurricane Katrina disaster relief
Landmarks in Baltimore
Comfort 3
Comfort 3
Merchant ships of the United States
Tankers of the United States
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City
Hospital ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic