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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Mercy (AH-8)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Delta - Kilo
 NBDK
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal
Comfort Class Hospital Ship:
  • Laid down, 4 February 1943, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1032) at Consolidated Steel, Corp., Wilmington, CA.
  • Acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission
  • Launched and delivered to the US Navy, 25 March 1943
  • Converted to a Hospital Ship at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., San Pedro, CA.
  • Commissioned USS Mercy (AH-8), 7 August 1944, CAPT. Thomas A. Esling, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS Mercy was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 25 October to 29 November 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 19 April to May 1945
  • Decommissioned, 17 May 1945, at San Francisco, CA.
  • Turned over to the US Army, 17 May 1946, for further use as a hospital ship
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 September 1946
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission by the US Army, 6 February 1950
  • Custody transferred to Bethlehem Steel Co., 27 March 1956, for conversion to a Training Ship
  • Loaned by the Maritime Administration to the State University of New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, Bronx, N.Y., 23 May 1956, for use as a training ship
  • Renamed Empire State III in June 1956
  • Returned to the Maritime Administration, 3 June 1960, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Hudson River Group
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 23 November 1970, Aguilar y Peris, S.L., Valencia, Spain
  • USS Mercy received two battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,800 t.(fl)
    Length 418'
    Beam 60'
    Draft 24'
    Speed 15.5 kts.
    Complement 516
    Patient Capacity 400
    Armament none
    Propulsion geared turbine, single screw, 4,000hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    USS Mercy (AH-8)
    Mercy 55k USS Mercy (AH-8) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Naval Hospital Corps School
    Mercy 88k USS Mercy (AH-8) underway in San Pedro Bay, CA., 15 August 1944. .
    US Naval Historical Center photo # NH 103222    		 Mike Green
    Mercy 74k USS Mercy (AH-8) docking at Guam, 9 May 1945, to discharge men wounded at Okinawa.
    A US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. Photo #: 80-G-322053    		 Mike Green
    T/S Empire State III
    Mercy 48k Ex-Mercy (AH-8) as the State University of New York Maritime College training ship Empire State III. .
    View the USS Mercy (AH-8)
    DANFS history entry located on the US Navy 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 17 October 2008