USS Comfort (AH-3)

USS "Comfort" (AH-3) was a hospital ship for the United States Navy in World War I. She was the sister ship of , accompanied by cruisers the following season.Flayhart, p. 292.] This perceived threat to American shipping interests was met by the Ward Line by the acquisition of two new ships. The new ships, and ] ) north of The Bahamas. Although one passenger died of "apoplexy" during the evacuation of the ship, all the passengers were evacuated on the steamers "El Oceano" and "Peten". These two steamers along with Coast Guard Cutters ]

"Havana" remained on the reef for three months before being re-floated, repaired, and renamed SS "Yucatan". "Yucatan" remained in passenger service for the Cuba Mail Line until 1940, when she was converted to a freighter. On 29 November 1940, "Yucatan" sank at her pier in New York. [cite news | url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00713FC3F5C10728DDDA80894DA415B8088F1D3 | format = fee | title = Divers start task of raising vessel | work = The New York Times | date = 1940-12-01 | page = S10 ] After again being re-floated and repaired, the ship was renamed "Agwileon" and assigned to the Cuba Mail Lines parent organization, the Atlantic, Gulf, & West Indies Steamship Lines (the "AGWI Lines"), and remained in service as a freighter.

World War II military service

In April 1942, the Maritime Commission took control of SS "Agwileon" under a bareboat charter and used her to transport civilian technicians and advisors to Freeport, Sierra Leone, for the U.S. Army. After having boiler difficulties there, the ship then proceeded back to New York via Cape Town, Brazil, Trinidad, and Cuba. The voyage was completed in October.Charles, p. 5.]

The following month, the ship became USAT "Agwileon" when it was chartered by the Army, and underwent conversion to a troopship at the Atlantic Basin Iron Works in Brooklyn. With the conversion complete, the troopship left in April 1943 for Oran and Gibraltar, returning to New York in June. After this one voyage she was selected for conversion to a hospital ship.

Putting in at the Atlantic Basin Iron Works again in June, the ship was renamed USAHS "Shamrock" in August 1943. With the conversion complete, the new hospital ship left New York in September for Gibraltar and the Mediterranean where she operated locally, calling often at Oran, Palermo, the southern beaches of France, Bizerte, and Naples. By mid-February 1944, "Shamrock" had transported 11,989 patients before departing Gibraltar for Charleston (via Bermuda), where she arrived in early March. After undergoing some repairs and alterations at Charleston, "Shamrock" sailed again for Gibraltar for another tour of duty in the Mediterranean area from May to September. After transporting over 6,000 patients during this mission, she returned via Horta, Azores, to Charleston in late September.Charles, p. 349.]

In October, the hospital ship put in at Jacksonville for major repairs, before embarking on a final Mediterranean tour, arriving back in Charleston in April 1945. With the war in Europe winding down by this time, "Shamrock" underwent ventilation improvements at the Charleston Navy Yard intended for service in the Pacific. The repairs complete in September 1945, the hospital ship sailed for Los Angeles, arriving in October.

With no further need for hospital ships by that time, "Shamrock" was taken out of service. After the possibility of refitting the ship to carry home war brides was rejected, "Shamrock" was turned over to the War Shipping Administration at San Francisco on 4 February 1946, and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) at Suisun Bay, California. On 30 December 1947, "Shamrock" was sold to the Walter W. Johnson Co., and on 4 February | work = Property Management & Archive Record System (PMARS) | date = | accessdate = 2008-01-26 ]

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External links

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* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/civsh-h/havana.htm Initially constructed as S.S. Havana (American Passenger Ship, 1906)]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/ah3.htm Converted to USS Comfort (1918-1925, later AH-3)]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-us-cs/army-sh/usash-ag/agwileon.htm Later became USAT Agwileon (Transport, 1942-1943) then later the Army Hospital Ship Shamrock (1943-1946)]