USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) is the third United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

ship to bear the name Comfort, and the second to join the navy fleet. The USNS prefix identifies the Comfort as a non-commissioned ship owned by the U.S. Navy and crewed by civilians. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...

, USNS Comfort and her crew do not carry any offensive weapons. Firing upon the Comfort would be considered a war crime

War crime

War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...

and the ship does carry weapons for self-defense.

Like her sister ship USNS Mercy

USNS Mercy (T-AH-19)

The third USNS Mercy is the lead ship of her class of hospital ships in the United States Navy. Her sister ship is the USNS Comfort . She was named for the virtue of compassion. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, USNS Mercy and her crew do not carry any offensive weapons, though...

, Comfort was built as an oil tanker

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...

in 1976 by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is a shipyard in San Diego, California and Norfolk, Virginia and a division of General Dynamics. The shipyard specializes in constructing commercial cargo ships and auxiliary vessels for the US Navy and Military Sealift...

. Her original name was SS Rose City and she was launched from San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

.

Her career as an oil tanker ended when she was delivered to the Navy on December 1, 1987. Now, as a hospital ship

Hospital ship

A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....

, 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

Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...

, 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 U.S. government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

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

Field hospital

A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...

but less capable than a traditional hospital on land.

When not actively deployed, Comfort is kept in a state of reduced operations in Baltimore harbor

Inner Harbor

The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World.” The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the...

. She has been used many times over the years and kept ready to ship out of Baltimore with five days notice.

General characteristics

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)
- A flight deck that can handle world's largest military helicopters (CH-53D, CH-53E, MH-53E, Mi-17
  MI-17
  MI-17 can refer to:* Mil Mi-17, Soviet helicopter*M-17...
  
  )

Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm

During Operation Desert Storm, Comfort received a call to activate for Desert Shield/Desert Storm Aug. 9, 1990 and departed Baltimore Aug. 11. Comfort was positioned in proximity to Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

, just off the coast of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

near Khafji

Khafji

Ras Al Khafji or Khafji is a town on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It lies in what was before 1970 a neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia...

. On March 12, 1991, Comfort was under way on her return trip home. She arrived in Baltimore on April 15, 1991. While deployed, Comfort traveled more than 30000 nmi (34,523.5 mi; 55,560 km) and consumed almost 3000000 U.S.gal 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 evolutions; 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

Comfort was ordered to activation to serve as migrant processing center for Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

an migrants. 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 June 16, 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

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

, Cuba to drop off its remaining 400 migrants.

Operation Uphold Democracy

On September 2, 1994, Comfort was again directed to activate for a second unprecedented deployment. Comfort was tasked to provide a 250 bed medically intensive patient capability for the 35,000 Cuban

Cubans

Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

and Haiti

Haiti

an migrants supported by Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Comfort departed Baltimore, with a specially configured crew of 566 personnel. Following the diplomatic agreement reached between the United States and Haiti

Haiti

, Comfort took up a position off Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....

ready to receive casualties that might result from the transfer of U.S. and allied forces ashore. From September 16 through October 2, 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 Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

on October 14, 1994.

Operation Noble Eagle

Comfort was activated the afternoon of September 11, 2001, in response to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center

World Trade Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

and sailed the next afternoon to serve as a 250-bed hospital facility at Pier 92 in midtown Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. The ship arrived at Pier 92 in Manhattan at about 8:30 p.m. September 14. 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.

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Comfort was ordered to activate on December 26, 2002, and set sail for the U.S. Central Command area of operations on January 6, 2003. After stopping in Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is a tropical, footprint-shaped coral atoll located south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean at 7 degrees, 26 minutes south latitude. It is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory [BIOT] and is positioned at 72°23' east longitude....

to embark additional medical personnel flown in from the National Naval Medical Center, the ship proceeded to the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

to serve as an afloat trauma center in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom

2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...

. Comfort remained in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

for 56 days providing expert medical care to wounded U.S. military personnel as well as injured Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i civilians and enemy prisoners of war. When Comfort returned to Baltimore

Baltimore

on June 12, 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.

Joint Task Force Katrina

Comfort deployed on September 2, 2005, after only a two-day preparation, to assist in Gulf Coast recovery efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

. Starting in Pascagoula, Mississippi and then sailing to New Orleans, Comfort personnel saw 1,956 patients total. USNS Comfort returned on October 13, 2005 after its 7 week deployment.

Partnership for the Americas

USNS Comfort's Partnership for the Americas humanitarian mission, which began on June 15, 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 its 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

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

(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

Seabee

Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...

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, Va, 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

LDS Humanitarian Services

LDS Humanitarian Services is a branch of the Welfare Services department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

, 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 dollars worth of donated humanitarian aid.

Operation Unified Response

On January 13, 2010, the Comfort was ordered to assist in the humanitarian relief efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake

2010 Haiti earthquake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...

as part of Operation Unified Response

Operation Unified Response

Operation Unified Response is the United States military's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. It is being conducted by Joint Task Force Haiti and commanded by United States Southern Command Military Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Ken Keen, although the overall U.S...

. Three days later on January 16 the Comfort left the Port of Baltimore bound for Haiti

Haiti

. It arrived Wednesday, January 20, 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 beds, since it 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, it offered the most advanced medical care available in Haiti following the earthquake.

Between January 19 and February 28, 2010 the ship's staff treated 1,000 Haitian patients and performed 850 surgeries. As of March 8, USNS Comfort had discharged its last patient. On March 10, the ship ended its mission in the Joint Task Force Haiti area as part of Operation Unified Response

Operation Unified Response

, and returned to its home port.

2011

In 2011, the ship deployed on Operation Continuing Promise

Operation Continuing Promise

Operation Continuing Promise is a periodic series of US military exercises conducted under the direction of United States Southern Command. Designated by Roman numeral , or by year ; they provide medical, dental and veterinary aid to people in Latin America...

. For the operation, the ship deployed for five months providing medical services to locations in the Caribbean and Latin American.

USNS Comfort awards, citations & campaign ribbons

Top Row	Combat Action Ribbon Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard , have actively participated in ground or...	Joint Meritorious Unit Award Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award is a 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...	Navy Unit Commendation Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation of the United States Navy is an award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944...
Second Row	Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation	Navy E Ribbon Navy E Ribbon The Battle Efficiency Ribbon, Navy "E" Ribbon, or the Battle "E" ribbon was established in July 1976 by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf. The Navy "E" Ribbon denotes permanent duty on U.S. Navy ships, squadrons, or units that have won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974...	National Defense Service Medal National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
Third Row	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States military, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy...	Southwest Asia Service Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal is a military award of the United States armed forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members who performed duty during the years of the Persian Gulf War...	Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal is a United States armed forces military award created by George W. Bush on March 12, 2003 by Executive Order 13289. It recognizes those military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror from September 11,...
Bottom Row	Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal The Global War on Terrorism Service Medal is a military award of the United States military which was created by Executive Order 13289 of President George W. Bush on March 12, 2003...	Humanitarian Service Medal Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States armed forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under...	Kuwait Liberation Medal Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) The Wisam Al-Tahrir was issued by the government of Kuwait for service during the Liberation of Kuwait campaign.-Description:The Kuwait Liberation Medal was approved by the Kuwait Council of Ministers for award in five classes, generally according to the rank of the recipient...

External links

Maryland°N date=December 2010°W

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.