Sanctuary (AH 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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L 1' USS REPOSE QAH-161 1966 USS REPOSE QAH-163 - Originally commissioned 26 May 1945, but saw only limited duty in the remaining weeks of World War II. - After VJ Day she served as an evacuation ves- sel for two years in China and Japan. - From 3 September 1949 to 26 August 1950 RE- POSE was operated by a civilian crew of the Mili- tary Sea Transportation Service. - On 20 September 1950, with a Navy crew, she assumed duty as a station general hospital at Pusan and Inchon, Korea and carried United Nations cas- ualties to Japan. Inactivated and decommissioned following the Korean action. - Recommissioned on 16 October 1965, to give medical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces fighting in Vietnam. She had been refitted with the most modern equipment for Hospital Ships. REPOSE arrived in Vietnam on 14 February 1966 and depart- ed on 14 March 1970. During her time on the line she treated 24,713 patients. HOSPITAL S She is presently permanently docked at Long Beach, where she is serving as an auxiliary unit of the Naval Hospital. HIPS THROUGH THE YEARS OF CO FLICT CIVIL WAR BOSTON AH-7 HOPE First RELIEF tender AH-4 MERCY RED ROVER Plus 12 other lesser known ships which served NEWARK PINKNEY as hospital ships. quarantine ship RIXEY SOLACE TRYON SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR Atlantic fleet AH-12 HAVEN First SOLACE ffirst of our Naval vessels to fly RELIEFCAH-lj AH-13 BENEVOLENCE the Geneva Red Cross flagj Third RELIEF AH-14 TRANQUILITY Second RELIEF AH-15 CONSOLATION Several other Red Cross and Army ships. AH-16 REPOSE REPOSE fsecond-RELIEFJ AH-17 SANCTUARY WORLD WARI floating dispensary Asiatic Fleet. ADRIAN KOREA ambulance boat WORLD WAR Il AH-15 CONSOLATION BOSTON FLOATING HOSPITAL AH-l RELIEF AH-16 REPOSE COMFORT AH-5 SOLACE AH-12 HAVEN Atlantic fleet AH-9 BOUNTIFUL SEA GATE SAMARITAN VIETNAM ambulance boat REFUGE AH-16 REPOSE SOUTHPORT RESCUE AH-17 SANCTUARY ambulance boat AH-6 COM FORT 175