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 ordnance. 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 July 20, 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.
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.
Deployments
On February 27, 1987, Mercy began training and 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 July 13, 1987.
On August 9, 1990, Mercy was activated in support of Operation Desert Shield. Departing on August 15th, she arrived in the Persian Gulf on September 15th. 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 March 16, 1991, arriving in Oakland, California, on April 23.th
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 on May 1, 2008 for "Pacific Partnership 2008", a 4-month humanitarian and civic deployment in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Mercy, with her 900 officers and sailors, including 300 US health and construction experts. Partners participating in the mission include the nations Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand, as well as several non-governmental organizations. Originally intended to visit the Philippines, Vietnam, the Federated States of Micronesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea, USNS "Mercy" has been redirected to the Bay of Bengal to provide immediate assistance to victims of the cyclone in Burma.
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)
