Hospital ships are like antifreeze: you cannot have them too early; you can only have them too late.
The U.S. Navy and the Trump administration demonstrated that fact by deploying both of our hospital ships (designated AHs for “auxiliary hospital”) within days of the order to sail amid the Wuhan Virus emergency.
Hospital ships have a history spanning millennia, dating from ancient Greece and Rome to the Spanish Armada of 1588, which had two. The British Royal Navy deployed dedicated hospital ships from the 17th century.
The first six American vessels were commissioned between 1798 and 1896, serving in climes as varied as President Thomas Jefferson’s 1803 campaign against Tripoli, and anti-piracy efforts in the West Indies. The Union Navy had at least three hospital ships during the Civil War and the Confederacy confiscated a Cornelius Vanderbilt yacht for the purpose.
Despite international conventions, hospital ships were not always immune to danger. In World War I twenty-six were sunk by intention, mistaken identity or crew error, including sixteen British Commonwealth vessels. Austro-Hungary lost three, the Netherlands two, Czarist Russia two, with one each by Greece, Italy and Germany.
The U.S. transport Henderson, accompanying an Atlantic convoy in 1918, rammed a German submarine, inflicting serious damage. She began her second war at Pearl Harbor and was converted to the hospital ship Bountiful (AH-9) in 1944. The second Solace (AH-5, converted from a passenger ship in 1940) also was at Pearl Harbor and earned seven battle stars through 1945.
The Navy acquired twelve more AHs during World War II. Three were crewed by sailors on behalf of the army: Comfort (AH-6), Hope (AH-7) and Mercy (AH-8).
During World War II twenty-five hospital ships from seven nations were lost to all causes, including seven British Empire and six Italian vessels. Japan’s three included the Awa Maru, sunk in error by a U.S. submarine in 1945. The lone survivor admitted she was carrying military supplies (a violation of international law governing hospital ships) but the sub skipper was court martialed and found guilty of negligence.
Subsequently, U.S. hospital ships came under attack. Off Okinawa on April 2, 1945, Relief (AH-1) was bombed by Japanese aircraft with slight damage but far worse awaited.
On the night of April 28, south of Okinawa, the third Comfort (AH-6) was running illuminated as per international regulations. But a Japanese kamikaze pilot made a masthead pass over the white ship with red crosses, circled and dived into the sweet spot. The impact in an operating room killed 28 patients and staff, including six nurses.
As many as three other AHs also were attacked, ineffectually.
Three hospital ships served during the Korean War—Haven (AH-12), Consolation (AH-15) and Repose (AH-16). Two deployed during Vietnam—Repose and Sanctuary (AH-17).
Today’s AHs are far beyond anything previously envisioned. At 900 feet long and 69,000 tons they displace four to ten times their predecessors, well over twice the tonnage of a large World War II aircraft carrier. When Mercy (AH-19) and Comfort (AH-20) were commissioned in the mid 1980s they were the first new hospital ships in four decades. Both were christened in honor of prior AHs, each becoming the third to bear the name.
The ships have responded to humanitarian crises in the Caribbean and Pacific, the 9-11 response, Operations Desert Shield and Iraqi Freedom, plus Hurricane Katrina, among others.
Two years ago the navy considered decommissioning both AHs or scrapping one to maintain the other. Congressional opposition not only saved the ships but led to some upgrade funding. That was money well spent.
One AH is allotted to each coast: Mercy in San Diego under Captain John Rotruck, and Comfort under Captain Patrick Amersback in Norfolk. President Trump announced their possible activation on March 18 and, upon completing scheduled maintenance, they arrived in Los Angeles and New York within thirteen days, vastly less than “weeks to come” floated in some media. Mercy arrived at San Pedro Bay on the 27th; Comfort at New York’s Pier 90 on March 30, following a few days of required dredging in the harbor.
The Mercys bring enormous capability to any port. With 1,200 military and 60 civilian staff they possess 1,000 beds, a dozen operating rooms, an ICU, laboratory, dental service, and even a morgue.
Early reports indicated that neither ship was required to meet the actual number of patients. However, combining mobility and capability, America’s two hospital ships should remind We the People why they maintain a navy that often performs duties beyond its primary role of keeping freedom of the seas.
