Working Environments

A Sailor

The hospital ship USNS Mercy enters Pearl Harbor for a port visit before returning to its homeport in San Diego. Mercy is in Hawaii after completing a humanitarian and civic assistance deployment to South and Southeast Asia.


USNS Mercy

Named for the virtue of compassion, the USNS Mercy and its familiar white hull and red crosses are a symbol of hope for patients across the globe.

Mercy’s mission is to provide rapid, flexible and mobile medical and surgical services for the United States military in peacetime and during military operations. She is also a fully functional floating hospital, providing state-of-the-art facilities and care for military personnel and civilians alike.

CAPT Bradley Martin, Mercy’s Mission Commander, summed up the mission after a recent humanitarian operation in Southeast Asia.

“We’ve done lifesaving surgeries for people, and we’ve altered people’s lives in a lot of positive ways,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot done, and I hope to foster and continue the relationships with all these countries and their people.”

Based out of San Diego, California, Martin was speaking about Mercy’s most recent humanitarian mission as part of Operation Unified Assistance, providing medical care to the victims of the 2005 tsunami that devastated regions of Southeast Asia. Care was delivered to over 200,000 people.

Over the years, Mercy has served on a number of other charitable missions, including a 1987 cruise to the Philippines and the South Pacific. Over 62,000 outpatients and almost 1,000 inpatients were treated at seven ports. During active support of Operation Desert Shield in 1990, Mercy admitted 690 patients and performed almost 300 surgeries.

Mercy was built as an oil tanker in 1976. In 1984, she was renamed and converted to a hospital ship and commissioned two years later. With a total patient capacity of 1,000 beds and 12 operating rooms, Mercy has all the features of a major medical facility, including:

  • Casualty reception
  • Radiological services
  • Main laboratory plus satellite lab
  • Central sterile receiving
  • Medical supply/pharmacy
  • Physical therapy and burn care
  • Dental services
  • Optometry/lens lab
  • Morgue, laundry, and oxygen producing plants

Mercy’s crew remains a part of the staff of Naval Medical Center, San Diego. From doctors, nurses and dentists to the highly trained support staff, Mercy’s mission is to provide quality care for our fighting men and women and those most in need around the globe.