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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Comfort (AH-6)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Oscar - Charlie
NAOC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Okinawa, 29 April 1945) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asian-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)

Personnel Awards

Purple Hearts (28 KIA, 48 WIA, Okinawa, 29 April 1945)

Comfort Class Hospital Ship:
  • Laid down, date unknown, as a Maritime Commission type (C1-B hull) under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1021) at Consolidated Steel, Corp., Wilmington, CA.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission and acquired by the Navy, 18 March 1943
  • Converted to a Hospital Ship at Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, CA.
  • Commissioned USS Comfort (AH-6), 5 May 1944, CDR. H. F. Fultz in command
  • During WWII USS Comfort was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, October and November 1944
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 to 9 and 23 to 30 April 1945

  • Decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register and returned to the War Shipping Administration, 19 April 1946, at San Francisco, CA.
  • Title retained by US Army for further use as a hospital ship
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Group
  • Title transferred to the Maritime Commission, 25 November 1949
  • Declared surplus to Maritime Commission needs, 18 December 1949
  • Loaned to the Maine Maritime Academy, 24 August 1953 and renamed TS State of Maine
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) at Beaumont, TX, 28 June 1962
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping to Southern Scrap Material Co., Beaumont, TX, 2 October 1967.
  • USS Comfort received two battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 6,000
    Length 417' 9"
    Beam 60'
    Draft 27' 8"
    Speed 14 kts.
    Complement 233
    Patient Capacity 400
    Propulsion geared turbine, single screw, 4,000hp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    Comfort 110k USS Comfort (AH-6), on the right, undergoing conversion to a hospital ship at Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, CA., 31 December 1943. Note she has yet to be painted in hospital ship colors. The destroyer to the left is USS Preston (DD-795). The destroyer in the center is USS Cassin Young (DD-793) which was commissioned on this date.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-117682, from the US Navy BUSHIPS collection now in the collections of the US National Archives..
    Stephen P. Carlson, Preservation Specialist, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA
    Comfort 38k USS Comport (AH-6) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Naval Hospital Corps School
    Comfort 53k USS Comport (AH-6) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    US Navy Hospital Ships

    View the USS Comfort (AH-6)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 15 August 2008