USS Mercy
From Our Contribution
 USS Mercy (AH-8) underway in San Pedro Bay, California, 15 Aug 1944 | |
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | USS Mercy (AH-8) |
| Owner | US Navy |
| Builder | Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California |
| Launched | 25 Mar 1943 |
| Completed | July 1944 |
| In service | 7 Aug 1944 |
| Out of service | 17 May 1946 |
| Fate | Scrapped 23 Nov 1970 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Hospital Ship |
| Tonnage | 9,800 tons |
| Length | 416 ft (127m) |
| Beam | 60 ft 2 in (18.34m) |
| Depth | draft 24 ft 6 in (7.47m) |
| Propulsion | single screw |
| Speed | 15.3 knots (28.3 km/h) |
| Capacity | 400 patients, 516 crew |
Remarks
Mercy was one of three hospital ships, built, commanded and crewed by the Navy for the US Army. These ships, unlike the Navy hospital ships, were intended for evacuation and transport of patients after primary care had been given. Medical equipment and personnel were provided by the Army.
Mercy departed San Pedro 31 Aug 1944 for the South Pacific and, after calls at Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, arrived in Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, on 14 October. Five days later the hospital ship departed for the Philippines for the initial landing at Leyte, arriving off Leyte Gulf the morning of 25 October to find the Battle for Leyte Gulf still raging for another day. The following day she began embarking 400 casualties, mostly from LSTs alongside. On 26 October she sailed for the Admiralties, via Kossol Roads, Palau, and the Caroline Islands, arriving at Manus to disembark the wounded for transfer to base hospitals. During the next five months, Mercy completed seven more voyages from Leyte to Manus, or Hollandia.
On 19 March Mercy was earmarked for service during the Okinawa campaign, beginning with the landings 1 April. She arrived off Okinawa the morning of 19 April in company with USS Solace (AH-5) where she remained for four days embarking patients despite frequent air raids and threat of kamikazes. She then sailed for Saipan, in the Marianas Islands, on 23 April. She made two further voyages betwee Okinawa and Saipan.
Mercy carried wounded from Leyte and Manila on two voyages to Biak, returning to Manila on 23 June for two months' duty as station hospital ship. On 19 Aug 1945 she embarked the 227th Station Hospital which had been assigned to the Korean Occupation Forces, and three days later departed for Korea via Okinawa, arriving at Jinsen on 9 Sep 1945. On 19 Oct 1945 the hospital ship departed for Manila (via Hong Kong??).
Mercy decommissioned at San Francisco, California, 17 May, was delivered to the War Department the same day, and transferred to the US Army 20 June for further service as a hospital ship