US Navy hospital ships

Duck

Sarcastic remark goes here
Both of these have been deployed.

USNS Mercy, based in San Diego was deployed to Los Angeles.

USNS Comfort, based in Norfolk, was sent up to NYC.

0327-Mercy-49.jpg

gettyimages-96128448.jpg

Both were oil tankers built in the 70's but were bought by the Navy and converted to hospital ships during the Reagan administration.

They're fully equipped hospitals and each has 1000 beds.

But they're slow (17 knots) and take a week to activate. Some say they're obsolete.

I wonder if this pandemic will inspire the construction of purpose-built replacements.

 
But they're slow (17 knots) and take a week to activate. Some say they're obsolete.

Of course they're slow. They're built on merchant hulls.

I wonder if this pandemic will inspire the construction of purpose-built replacements.

Why? They appear to fit the purpose they were built for.
 
Why? They appear to fit the purpose they were built for.
They left the bulkheads in place, obviously because they're structural. But they didn't cut doors into them.
So to move from one lower level room to another, they have to take an elevator all the way to the deck, then another elevator back down.
They're also slow for a Navy ship. Especially one that would be deployed to natural disaster areas like after that tsunami. It takes 5 days to get them ready, then it only goes as fast as a ten year old kid on a bicycle.
 

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