[Yang Nak-gyu's Defense photo] What is the world's largest hospital ship urgently dispatched by Trump?

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] In the United States, countries around the world have begun to organize their defenses in a wartime-like mobilization reminiscent of World War II to combat the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Leaders of major advanced countries such as the United States, Germany, and France have consecutively regarded the COVID-19 situation as a wartime emergency, with governments directly stepping in to secure supplies, while private companies have also started producing medical-related equipment in addition to their existing products.

The regions with confirmed infections have expanded across all 50 U.S. states and the capital, Washington D.C. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to invoke the 'Defense Production Act,' which is mobilized in urgent wartime-like situations. This law grants the president broad authority to expand the production of essential materials to support defense, homeland security, and other needs. He also stated that naval hospital ships would be deployed to New York City and the U.S. West Coast, where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly.

The hospital ship mentioned by President Trump is the U.S. Navy's largest vessel, the USNS Comfort (T-AH-20 Comfort). Measuring 894 feet (272 meters) in length, 106 feet (32 meters) in width, and with a displacement of 69,360 tons, the Comfort is truly a 'floating comprehensive hospital.'

Inside the hospital ship are 12 operating rooms, 20 recovery rooms, and an 80-bed intensive care unit, totaling approximately 1,000 hospital beds throughout the ship. It is also fully equipped with various medical departments including radiology and dentistry, as well as physical therapy rooms, burn treatment facilities, eye examination facilities, CT scanning equipment, and two oxygen generators. Onboard, there is a large helicopter landing pad and a series of patient transfer boats arranged along the sides. The crew consists of about 20 civilian employees and 50 military medical personnel. Once medical operations are decided, approximately 1,100 additional personnel can be deployed within five days.

The Comfort is part of the U.S. Military Sealift Command (MSC) and its primary mission is to provide urgent on-site medical support to U.S. forces during both wartime and general operations. It offers mobile and rapid medical assistance to naval units operating in areas with insufficient medical facilities. The USNS Comfort was also deployed with 550 medical staff during the Haiti earthquake emergency response. In 1994, it was mobilized for U.S. military operations to block Cuban and Haitian refugees and to stabilize Haiti.

The Comfort was originally built as an oil tanker and later converted into a hospital ship. The same applies to the Mercy (USNS Mercy, T-AH-19). The Mercy was delivered to the U.S. Navy in 1986, and the Comfort in 1987. Based on the U.S. continent, the Mercy operates in the Pacific region, while the Comfort covers the Atlantic region.