USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) Archives - Maritime Shipping News

SECNAV Del Toro Names New Class of Medical Ships After Bethesda Medical Center

15 May 2023

Austal USA EPF medical concept. AUSTAL USA Image

The Navy’s new class of expeditionary medical ships will be named after a Maryland military medical center, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced Friday.

The future USNS Bethesda (EMS-1) will be the first in the class for the new line of expeditionary medical ships.

Bethesda is named after Naval Support Activity Bethesda, home to naval and military medical facilities including the Walter Reed National Military Hospital.

“The name ‘Bethesda’...

https://news.usni.org/2023/05/15/secnav-del-toro-names-new-class-of-medical-ships-after-bethesda-medical-center

New Details of Austal’s EPF Hospital Ship Emerge

5 March 2021

Austal USA EPF medical concept. AUSTAL USA Image

After the Navy last week issued a $235-million contract modification to Austal USA to build its latest multi-purpose Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, new details of the ambulance variant have come to light.

A spokesman for Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News this week that the ambulance variant of the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) will have both an intensive care unit and other healthcare accommodations.

“Beginning with EPF 14, the EPF...

https://news.usni.org/2021/03/05/new-details-of-austals-epf-hospital-ship-emerge

Proposed COVID-19 Relief Package Includes $2.2B for Shipbuilding, 4 Hospital Ships

28 July 2020

Austal USA EPF medical concept. AUSTAL USA Image

Republican senators want to include $2.2 billion for Navy shipbuilding in the latest round of relief funds meant to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the text of the bill, lawmakers would allot $1.45 billion of that money so the service could buy four “expeditionary medical ships.”

The proposed funds for medical vessels come after the Navy dispatched its two hospital ships, USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) and USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), earlier this...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/28/gop-covid-19-relief-package-includes-2-2b-for-shipbuilding-4-hospital-ships

Panel: COVID-19 Pandemic Could Prompt Changes to National Security Spending

15 June 2020

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. CDC Image

The Pentagon’s budget will fall in the future as Congress sees how little the Department of Defense’s spending was able to protect against the global COVID-19 pandemic, three national...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/15/panel-covid-19-pandemic-could-prompt-changes-to-national-security-spending

Beyond Mercy: Navy’s COVID-19 Hospital Ship Missions and the Future of Medicine at Sea

25 May 2020

USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) arrives in San Diego on May 15, 2020. US Navy Photo

Public excitement and relief greeted the March arrival of the Navy’s hospital ships in Los Angeles and New York City for their COVID-19 relief mission. But the excitement faded as the ships treated fewer than expected COVID-19 patients and left for their homeports with muted fanfare.

USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) left the port of Los Angeles on May 15 after treating only 77 non-infected patients. The Norfolk, Va.-based USNS Comfort (T...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/25/beyond-mercy-navys-covid-19-hospital-ship-missions-and-the-future-of-medicine-at-sea

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: May 18, 2020

18 May 2020

USNI News Graphic

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of May 18, 2020, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.

Total U.S. Navy Battle Force:299Ships Underway

Deployed Ships Underway	Non-deployed Ships Underway	Total Ships Underway
66	45	111

Ships Deployed by Fleet

Fleet Forces

3r...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/18/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-may-18-2020

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: May 11, 2020

11 May 2020

USNI News Graphic

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of May 11, 2020, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.

Total U.S. Navy Battle Force:299Ships Underway

Deployed Ships Underway	Non-deployed Ships Underway	Total Ships Underway
72	37	109

Ships Deployed by Fleet

Fleet Forces

3r...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/11/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-may-11-2020

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: May 4, 2020

4 May 2020

USNI Graphic

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of May 4, 2020, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.

Total U.S. Navy Battle Force:299Ships Underway

Deployed Ships Underway	Non-deployed Ships Underway	Total Ships Underway
70	24	94

InJapan

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) at...

Hospital Ship Comfort Set to Arrive in Norfolk on Saturday After New York Mission

1 May 2020

USNS Comfort departs New York Harbor after treating patients in New York and New Jersey on April 30, 2020. US Navy Photo

With an escort of water-spraying boats, hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) pulled from a cruise ship terminal pier midday Thursday and departed New York Harbor for a return to its Virginia homeport on Saturday.

It’s unclear yet whether Comfort, with its 1,100-member military treatment facility aboard, will be reassigned to another location to support local authorities in...

https://news.usni.org/2020/05/01/hospital-ship-comfort-set-to-arrive-in-norfolk-on-saturday-after-new-york-mission

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