USNS Mercy (T-AH-19)

The third USNS "Mercy" (T-AH-19) is the lead ship of her class of hospital ships in the United States Navy. She was named for the virtue of compassion. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, USNS "Mercy" and her crew do not carry any . Firing on the "Mercy" is considered a war crime.

"Mercy" was built as an oil tanker, SS "Worth", by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California, in 1976. Starting in July 1984, she was renamed and converted to a hospital ship by the same company. Launched on 20 July 1985, USNS "Mercy" was commissioned on 8 November 1986. She has a raised forecastle, a transom stem, a bulbous bow, an extended deckhouse with a forward bridge, and a helicopter-landing deck with a flight control facility. The Mercy class hospital ships are the third largest ships in the U.S. Navy Fleet by length, surpassed only by the nuclear powered USS Enterprise and Nimitz Class Supercarriers.

Her primary mission is to provide rapid, flexible, and mobile acute 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.

USNS "Mercy", homeported in San Diego, California, is normally in reduced operating status. Her crew remains a part of the staff of Naval Medical Center, San Diego, until ordered to sea, at which time they have five days to fully activate the ship to an Echelon III Medical Treatment Facility. Like most "USNS" Ships, Mariners from the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command are responsible for navigation, propulsion, and most deck duties on board. However, the "Medical Treatment Facility", or hospital on the ship, is commanded by a Captain of the Navy's Medical Corps. The current Commanding Officer of the MTF is Captain James Rice.

Deployments

On 27 February 1987, "Mercy" began training while enroute on a humanitarian cruise to the Philippines and the South Pacific. The staff included U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, and U.S. Air Force active duty and reserve personnel; United States Public Health Service; medical providers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and MSC civilian mariners. Over 62,000 outpatients and almost 1,000 inpatients were treated at seven Philippine and South Pacific ports. "Mercy" returned to Oakland, California, on 13 July 1987.

On 9 August 1990, "Mercy" was activated in support of Operation Desert Shield. Departing on 15 August, she arrived in the Persian Gulf on 15 September. For the next six months, "Mercy" provided support to the multinational allied forces. She admitted 690 patients and performed almost 300 surgeries. After treating the 21 American and two Italian repatriated prisoners of war, she departed for home on 16 March 1991, arriving in Oakland, California, on 23 April.

USNS "Mercy" departed San Diego on January 5, 2005 en route to the tsunami-devastated regions of South East Asia, where she provided medical care to the victims of the disaster as part of Operation Unified Assistance.

USNS "Mercy" departed San Diego in 2006 en route to several ports in the South Pacific Ocean including The Republic of the Philippines, Indonesia and Banda Aceh. The ship's primary mission was to provide humanitarian assistance to these countries, and its staff included several Non-governmental organizations, doctors from the armed services of several countries, as well as active-duty and reserve military providers from many branches of the US armed forces.

USNS "Mercy", departed San Diego on April 14, 2008 for "Pacific Partnership 2008", a 4-month humanitarian and civic deployment in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Mercy, with her 900 officers and sailors, included 300 US health and construction experts. Partners participating in the mission include the nations Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and Portugal, as well as several non-governmental organizations. [ [http://www.military.com/news/article/navy-news/usns-mercy-deploys-for-pacific.html?col=1186032311124 www.military.com, USNS Mercy Deploys for Pacific] ] Originally intended to visit the Philippines, Vietnam, the Federated States of Micronesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea, USNS "Mercy" was to be redirected to the Bay of Bengal to provide immediate assistance to victims of the cyclone in Burma, but relief efforts in Burma were called off.

On June 10th the humanitarian mission was temporarily suspended after one of its helicopters was shot at in the strife-torn southern Philippines area of Mindanao [Cite news |url=http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/hospital-ship-mercy-under-fire-in-the-philippines/ |title=Hospital Ship Mercy - Under Fire In The Philippines |author=Captain John Konrad |publisher=gCaptain.com |date=2008-06-09] .

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
**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)

External links

* [http://www.mercy.navy.mil/ Official USNS "Mercy" Web site]
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AH19.htm Naval Vessel Register entry for "Mercy"]

References