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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USNS Comfort (T-AH-20)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Charlie - Oscar - Mike
 NCOM
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (17 June to 12 Oct. 2007)
Bottom Row - National Defense Service Medal - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
Mercy Class Hospital Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 May 1975, as SS Rose City a Maritime Commission type (T8-S-100b) tanker hull, under Maritime Administration contract (MA hull 301) at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, CA.
  • Launched and Delivered, 1 February 1976
  • Converted to a Hospital Ship at National Steel and Shipbuilding, at San Diego, CA
  • Placed in service as USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), 1 February 1987
  • USNS Comfort is one of two Hospital Ships and is part of the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, maintained in Reduced Operational Status (ROS-5) at a lay berth in Baltimore, MD.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 69,360 t.(fl)
    Length 894'
    Beam 105' 6"
    Speed 17.5 kts.
    Complement
    MSC 63 civilian mariners
    Naval Hospital Staff 956
    Naval Support Staff 258
    Patient capacity 1000 beds
    Propulsion two boilers, two GE turbines, one shaft, 24,500hp (18.3MS)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Comfort 97k Ex-SS Rose City in drydock during conversion to the hospital USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) at National Steel and Shipbuilding, at San Diego, CA.
    National Steel and Shipbuilding photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1986.    		 US Navy Hospital Ships Web Site
    Comfort 89k Ex-Rose City in drydock during conversion to the hospital USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) at National Steel and Shipbuilding, at San Diego, CA.
    National Steel and Shipbuilding photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1986.    		 US Navy Hospital Ships web site
    Comfort 40k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) underway, 27 October 1987, location unknown
    US Navy photo    		 US Navy Hospital Ships web site
    Comfort 112k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo     		All Hands Magazine
    Comfort 84k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1990.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Comfort 252k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November by PH1(AC) Scott. M. Allen USN.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Comfort 41k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) refueling from USNS Laramie (T-AO-203), date unknown.
    US Navy photo     		All Hands Magazine Web Site
    Comfort 102k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) entering New York harbor, 14 September 2001.
    US Navy photo     		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Comfort 49k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) underway, enroute to Souda Bay, Crete.
    US Navy photo # 2-030117-N-5996G-002    		 Bernard A. Cardali
    Comfort 59k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) entering the harbor at Souda Bay, Crete during her transit to the eastern Mediterranean.
    US Navy photo # 2-030122-N-0780F-002    		 Bernard A. Cardali
    Comfort 65k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) prepares to pull into port at Naval Support Activity (NSA) East Bank, New Orleans. Comfort will serve as an emergency trauma center as the citizens begin to repopulate the city of New Orleans. The Navy’s involvement in the Hurricane Katrina humanitarian assistance operations are led by the Federal Emergency management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the Department of Defense. .
    US Navy photo # 050928-N-2653P-077 by JO1 James Pinsky.    		 Jack Treutle
    Comfort 64k Line handlers stand by to cast off the mooring lines as USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) gets underway to take part in a multi-month humanitarian assistance deployment to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. During the deployment, Comfort expects to provide medical treatment to approximately 85,000 patients in more than a dozen countries.
    US Navy photo # 070615-N-8933S-109 NORFOLK, Va. (June 15, 2007) by MC3 Robert J. Stratchko.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 132k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) underway off the coast of Virginia shortly after departing Naval Station Norfolk to start a multi-month humanitarian assistance deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean.
    US Navy photo # 070615-N-6278K-231 ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 15, 2007) by MC2 Joan Kretschme.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 371k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) anchored off the coast of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala, 30 June 2007, during a scheduled stop on a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean to provide medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries. While deployed, Comfort is under the operational control of Commander US Naval Forces Southern Command and tactical control of Destroyer Squadron 24 (DESRON-24).
    US Navy photo # 070630-N-8704K-088 CARIBBEAN SEA (June 30, 2007) by MC2 Joshua Karsten.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 337k Comfort (T-AH 20) arriving at Acajutla, El Salvador, 25 July 2007, as tugboats come alongside tt assist her into her berth. USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) is on a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean to provide medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries.
    US Navy photo # 070725-N-8704K-235 ACAJUTLA, El Salvador (July 25, 2007) by MC2 Joshua Karsten.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 456k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) moored pierside at Acajutla, El Salvador, 8 August 2007, during a scheduled port visit. Comfort is on a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries.
    US Navy photo # 070730-N-8704K-092 ACAJUTLA, El Salvador (Aug. 8, 2007) by MC2 Joshua Karsten.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 276k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) at anchor off Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, 2 September 2007. Comfort is on a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries.
    US Navy photo # 070902-N-8704K-019 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Sept. 2, 2007) by MC2 Joshua Karsten.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 407k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) is assisted away from the pier by tugboats as she pulls out of port at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tabago, 22 September 2007. Comfort completed approximately one week of medical aid in Trinidad and Tobago. as part of her four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean.
    US Navy photo # 070922-N-0194K-262 PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (Sept. 22, 2007) by MC2 Steven King.    		 Douglas Brown
    Comfort 425k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) at anchor several miles off the coast of Georgetown, Guyana, 26 September 2007. Comfort is on a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment to patients in a dozen countries.
    US Navy photo # 070926-N-7088A-016 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Sept. 26, 2007) by MC2 Elizabeth R. Allen.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 332k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrives pierside at Norfolk Naval Station, 15 October 2007, after completing a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment in 12 countries.
    US Navy photo # 071015-N-1713L-061 NORFOLK, Va. (Oct. 15, 2007) by MC2 Lolita M. Lewis.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 410k USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) arrives pierside at Norfolk Naval Station, 15 October 2007, after completing a four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical treatment in 12 countries. While docked in Norfolk, approximately 500 crew members disembarked to return to their home units and parent commands, leaving most of the permanently assigned personnel and MSC civil service mariners, who will sail the ship up the Chesapeake Bay to her berth in Baltimore later in the week.
    US Navy photo # 071015-N-6278K-482 NORFOLK, Va. (Oct. 15, 2007) by MC2 Joan E. Kretschmer.    		 Lee Wahler
    Comfort 458k Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) ADM. Gary Roughead congratulates crew members aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) upon completion of their deployment, 12 October 2007. ADM. Roughead presented the crew with a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Comfort completed its four-month humanitarian deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean providing medical care to patients in a dozen countries.
    US Navy photo # 071012-N-0194K-105 ATLANTIC (Oct. 12, 2007) by MC2 Steven King.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Comfort 108k USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) moored in her berth at Baltimore, MD., 17 May 2008. Photo by Larry Backus
    There is no DANFS history available for USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) at NavSource
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Navy Fact File Hospital Ships -T-AH
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 13 June 2008