Sanctuary (AH 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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Three other ships had a peculiar organization: The COMFORT. the HOPE. and the MERCY. These were Navy hospital ships. manned and operated by the Navy. but with an Army' medical and surgical staff. To write a complete history' of every' US. Hos- pital Ship would take many' volumes. furthermore complete data is difficult to obtain. thus vve will at- tempt to highlight some of the more significant facts and events of the ships. USS RELIEF tSecond RELIEH - Commissioned in l898. - First Hospital Ship to be commanded by a med- ical officer. - When the keel of the third RIiLIIiIf vvas laid in l9l7. the name of the second vvas changed to REPOSF, USS RELIEFIAII-ll - Commissioned 28 December IOZU - Ifirst ship built from the keel as a hospital ship. - Knovyn as the White lily to pre-Pearl Ilar' bor Navy men. .1 5'.. Nl - v . W, MRS. COOLIDGE VISITS USS RELIEF LAH-ll IQIS Sl-.COND RELIEF - I907 I SS SUI Xi I lXII'5l A L omniissionctl 'J Xllgtlsl I9-ll. Inst hospital slllp to he present in a Naval haiile when she cared lor casualties from the .lap- aiicsc attack on I'earl Ilarbor. - Iirst Ilospilal Ship to be refueled at sea while carrying a lull load of patients in November I943. - I-irst Ilospital Ship to receive patients directly from the combat area. during the Gilbert Islands campaign in I9-ll - Ilecommissioned 7 Nlarch I9-16. LSS CONIFORTI.-XII-ol - Commissioned 5 Slay I9-I-I. - First ship to be manned by a Navy' crew and .-Xrmy medical staff. - On the night of 28 Anril I9-15 near Okinawa. a Japanese Kamikaze plane attacked and crashed into the ship. lsilling Its personnel and injuring -I8. - Decommissioned I9 April I9-16. 173

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172 HISTORY OF I-IOSPIT L SHIPS The first ollieially designated hospital ship was the USS INI'RI-PID. She was a small kctch which had previously served as a Ireneh gunboat. a pirate ship under the Bashaw ol Tripoli. She was ollicialls designated a hospital ship in ISU-l during the war with Tripoli, ' The best known ol' the hospital ships and the first which was legitimately outfitted was the Civil War side-wheeler the RIQD RON'IiR. The RIQIJ ROVER was built at Cape Girardeau. Nlissouri in I859 and steamed the old Mississippi. She was eaptured from the Confederate States ol' .-Xmerica in ltiol. The L'nion Navy then fully converted her to the lirst complete Natal hospital aboard a lloating vessel. Commodore Foote described her as the most eomplete thing ol the kind that ever floated . . the icebox holds over 300 tons. She has bathrooms. laundry. elevator lor the siek lrom the lower to the upper deek. amputating room. nine dil'l'erent water closets. gauze blinds to the windows to keep the einders and smoke from annoying the sick. two sep- arate kitehens for sick and well. a regular corps ol' nurses. and two water elosets for evers deekf' I FIRST Rlil Ilzl' - H475 S.. Pl Tllli RIED ROVER - l862 It was aboard the RIiD ROVER that women lirsl became an ollieial part ol' the US. Naval Forces. It was here and in this time that the groundwork for the Navy Nurse Corps was laid. Ships have therealter been maintained as float- ing hospitals in every major war involving the United States lforees: The Spanish-Aineriean War. World War I. World War Il. the lsorean Conflict and pres- ently the Vietnam War. It was at the persistenee ol' Clara Barton and Presitlent fiailieltl that the llnited States became the 32nd signatory power to the Geneva Red Cross Con- vention on l lklarcli ISNI. Thus the ensign of the hospital vessels ol' this country became the Geneva Truss, antl has remainetl so ever since. The USS SOI At I was the lirst ship to lily the Geneva CroSS in the Spanish-fNtnerican War. U Vkith the exception ol' three ships. the HuSP'lf'l Ships liave the names ol' virtues which bring lest antl lit-tiling to the siek and wlottnded. The threti CX' eeptions. l'lNlsNlY, RIXI-Y. and TRYON, We nanietl lot latnotts sttrgeons ol' the Navy. i l I I i it l I ,.....-,-17 vw...-w ,-.W

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ljlte six NlNlCliNlllPN ol the ll.tXXll N class xyctc launched in N45 lhese six sllips xyere ol srrrrrlar' construetiori. 520 leet in lerrgtlr. ivith a displaeerrrerrt ol' l5.l.ltlU tons. ll.tXX'l4N Class ships vvere the lirst naval vessels to he air'-conditioned tlrrotrglrotrt the living and hospital spaces. Initially, their pr'imar'y use vyas the return ol' World War ll troups, USSll.-XN'liNt.-Xll-Ill - Decommissioried lollovyirrg World War' ll and Recommissioned I5 September' N50 to serve in Korea. - During Korea. harges vvere moored along the sides ot' the ship for the purpose ol' landing helicop- ters. With a barge moored on either side ol' the ship. four helicopters cotild be landed simultan- eously. - When the HAVEN vvas placed in the reserve lleet in l957. to function as a doekside hospital at Long Beach, it marked the first time since the Civil War that the U.S. Navy lacked the capahility ol' a complete and modern lloating medical facility. Dur- ing the sixties the HAVEN was decommissioned and sold. USS BENEVOLENCELAII-l3J - Was removed from the Reserve lfleet and readied lor duty' in Korea. During reactivation trials. in September l950, she collided with another ship in a log. in the Golden Gate channel, and sank. ,, ,gf . S . y USS CAUNSOIATION lAl ls l Sl N52 174 W ..... fi W, 1 l l rr USS HAVIQN QAH-IZJ N52 USS'liRANQllll.l'l'Y tAll-l-ll - 'lir'ansl'er'red to the Maritime Administration Reserve lfleet in l9ol. 4 llSSC'ONSUl,A'l'lONtAll-I5l - Served in hoth World War ll and Korea. She was the lirst hospital ship to: l l'artieipate in the Korean action. 2. Include a woman Medical Ollicer on her staff. 3. Return hattlc casualties to the Ll.S. from Korea. sl. lltilifc an ldleetroerrcepltalograph machine at sea. 5. lnstall and trsc a hlood hanls as standard equip- l ment. tr. llave a helicopter llight tlecls installed. 7, Receive casualties lrom the hattle lield via helicopter. - Alter the CUNSLH ,NIRION nas decommissioned on .ltl llcccmhcr' W55. she nas chartered hy' the Navy to the People to People llealtlr l'i0llllllllll0ll- 'rrarrretl the llUl'l, and stalled hy .tt Xmerican per- l sonrrcl. she has since visitetl many yyorld areas ltr carry on tr healing mission and to train citizens ol tlre countries visited irr modern medical techniques arrtl ptrhlic health pr'oectlur'es. r