The Mercy class of hospital ships are converted San Clemente-class supertankers used by the United States Navy. Originally built in the 1970s by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, they were acquired by the Navy and converted into hospital ships, coming into service in 1986 and 1987. Mercy class replaced the Haven-class hospital ships. The ships are operated by Military Sealift Command and are designed to provide emergency, on-site care for American combatant forces, and also for use in support of disaster relief and humanitarian operations. Each ship contains twelve fully equipped operating rooms, a 1,000-bed hospital facility, radiological services, a medical laboratory, pharmacy, optometry lab, CT scan equipment, and two oxygen-producing plants. Ships Two ships of the class were put into service: (ex SS Worth) (ex SS Rose City) Missions Stationed in San Diego, California, Mercy primarily operates in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Her inaugural mission in 1987, was a humanitarian cruise to the Philippines and South Pacific. Her first military mission was serving coalition troops in the First Gulf War. The first disaster relief came in the wake of the 2004 tsunami as Operation Unified Assistance. Her latest was in 2013, when she came to the aid of the Philippines, and other nations in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. Stationed out of Norfolk, Virginia, Comfort operates primarily in the Caribbean and Latin America. Her first mission was a combat one: serving coalition troops off the coast of Kuwait, during Operation Desert Storm. Her first humanitarian missions both happened in 1994, helping Haitian and Cuban immigrants looking to come to America. In the aftermath of 9/11, Comfort was activated and sent to Manhattan, to provide medical and mental health services. Comfort headed into combat again for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2005, she was back saving American citizens following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In 2010, she undertook another disaster relief mission, in response to an earthquake in Haiti. In May 2015, Comfort was in Kingston, Jamaica, providing medical services including optometry, dentistry, general medical, women’s health, pediatrics, and pharmacy. The Jamaica leg was part of ‘Continuing Promise’, a nearly six-month humanitarian mission across the Caribbean region. Once again in 2017, Comfort was deployed to aid American citizens in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. In March 2020, the ships were deployed to aid in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Both ships will function as trauma centers at currently-disused