In the News

USNS Comfort kept comfortable in dry dock

The U.S. Military Sealift Command Hospital Ship USNS Comfort came to Boston this spring for a little care and comfort of its own.

And, thanks to Wilkinson Mobile Boilers, Inc., the heat stayed on during the 70 days the ship was in port undergoing repairs at Boston Ship Repair.

The relationship between Wilkinson and Boston Ship Repair is a long one.

“Everything is done as promised. Night or day. Wilkinson is very dependable,” said William J. Butler Jr., subcontractor manager for Boston Ship Repair.

“Wilkinson has great follow-up,” said Joe Duffy, purchasing manager for Boston Ship Repair.

The steam provided by Mobile Boilers keeps the heat on while the ship was in port for repair work. “It is very important the pipes don’t freeze,” said Butler.

It took two Wilkinson Mobile Boilers to keep the heat on during the U.S.N. Comfort’s stay in Boston for repairs. Keeping the pipes from freezing is extremely important.

The Comfort is a T-AH 20 Hospital Ship. It is also one of the largest trauma facilities in the United States. In 2005, the Comfort was sent to the Gulf Coast to provide medical support in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Comfort is normally stationed at Baltimore's Canton Pier in reduced operating status with a cadre crew of 18 civil service mariners who maintain the vessel, as well as a hospital support staff of 58 military personnel who care for the ship’s hospital facilities, equipment and supplies. When called to action, the ship is designed to be activated, crewed, mission-ready and able to sail in five days.

Comfort was called to duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In January 2003, the ship sailed from Baltimore to the Persian Gulf to provide medical care to U.S. military personnel, Iraqi civilians and enemy prisoners of war. The ship also activated on Sept. 12, 2001, and spent three weeks in New York City providing support to relief workers in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Comfort is one of two Navy hospital ships. Her sister ship, USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), is berthed in San Diego.

During the 70 days of repair, Wilkinson Mobile Boilers were on both sides of the deck of the U.S.N. Comfort. Visitors who drove to the Boston Waterfront in March to see the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier on its farewell visit to Boston were able to also see the U.S.N. Comfort, but were not allowed to go aboard. The Kennedy was decommissioned after 39 years of service.

Both the Mercy and Comfort each contain 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, a 1,000 bed hospital facility, digital radiological services, a diagnostic and clinical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a cat scan and two oxygen producing plants. Both vessels have a helicopter deck capable of landing large military helicopters, as well as side ports to take on patients at sea.

In full operating mode, Comfort carries a crew of 61 civilian mariners, 956 Naval medical staff, and 259 Naval support staff. Normally, the ships are kept in a reduced operating status in the case of the Comfort, Baltimore, Md., and the Mercy, San Diego, Calif., by a small crew of civilian mariners and active duty Navy medical and support personnel.

The Comfort and the Mercy are both converted San Clemente-class super tankers. Mercy was delivered in 1986 and Comfort in 1987.

After Comfort returns to Baltimore, the ship is next headed to South America on a goodwill mission.

(Information for the Public Affairs Office of Military Sealift Command was used in this report.)