Ships Comfort and Wasp on the way to Puerto Rico

[nitpicker]

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2017/09/30/hospital-ship-comfort-on-the-way-to-puerto-rico-wasp-redirected-too/

Ships Comfort and Wasp on the way to Puerto Rico

By: Mark D. Faram ?  18 hours ago


The hospital ship Comfort left its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday, heading to Puerto Rico to support relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. In addition, the amphibious assault ship Wasp has been released from relief work in Dominica and will head to Puerto Rico as well.

The Comfort’s much anticipated move came around 2 p.m., when the ship headed through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and headed to the open sea. “We don’t know where we are going yet,” said Capt. Kevin Robinson, Commander of Military Sealift, Atlantic at a Sept. 29 pier side briefing as the ship was preparing to depart. “We’ll get our orders enroute ... the great part of what Comfort brings to the fight is the ability move anywhere they ask us.” Robinson said that the ship should be on station by Oct. 3 or Oct. 4.
(snip)

Comfort left with 522 medical personnel and support staff, and 70 civil service mariners aboard. The “package” includes the full spectrum of medical care to include general practice, family medicine, nephrology and pediatrics. The ship is a converted San Clemente class supertanker, one of two the Navy maintains through the Military Sealift Command to be ready for contingencies. With one of the largest trauma units in the word, the ship maintains 5,000 units of blood and has up to a 1,000 bed capacity. The floating hospital is equipped with four X-ray machines, one CAT scan unit, a dental suite, an optometry and lens laboratory, physical therapy center, pharmacy, angiography suite and two oxygen-producing plants.
(snip)

According to the U.S. Southern Command, Wasp had been providing assistance to the U.S. Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricane Irma but was was re-positioned to avoid the path of Hurricane Maria. She arrived off the Caribbean nation of Dominica on Sept. 21. Wasp was on her way to Sasebo, Japan, when first Hurricane Irma and then Maria tore through many island nations and U.S. territories. Wasp will eventually resume her transit, though it’s unclear when she’ll depart the Caribbean.

[nitpicker]

1. Wasp just completed major maintenance/modificstions

http://navaltoday.com/2017/03/17/uss-wasp-on-track-for-japan-homeport-change/
USS Wasp on track for Japan homeport change

U.S. Navy’s amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) has reached a half-way point during its planned maintenance availability (PMA), the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC) said March 15. Since the commencement of Wasp’s PMA in January, a considerable amount of work has gone into getting the ship to this point.
(snip)

Contractors found degraded metal on the vent plenum silencers’ brackets, as well as on the steel structures they mount to, so they had to renew the steel in order to keep the silencers operational. Silencers reduce the noise of the draft blower.

A major undertaking, in such a condensed schedule, is the resurfacing of Wasp’s flight deck. "Generally we would have more time to resurface the flight deck, so we would only use one containment, going zone to zone,” said Pridgen. “There are two tents on the flight deck now, which is rare, because we had to condense the time in this availability. Typically, to complete an entire flight deck, it takes 134 days. We are doing an entire flight deck in 89 days on Wasp. Each tent encloses an area of 16,500 square feet, and we’ve already completed zones one, two, and five.”

Still to be completed is zone four, enclosed by a 12,000-square foot tent. Zone four is unique in that it contains Thermion, a coating system designed for landing and takeoff operations of the JSF. Without this heat-resistant coating protecting the deck of the ship, when the thrusters of the JSF turn down they would cook the deck. “The JSF modification makes this availability unusual,” said Spence. “Six F-35 JSFs are already on site in Japan, and this vessel will be capable of supporting their operations in the Pacific. Although USS America (LHA 6) is configured for JSF, Wasp is the first amphibious assault ship going overseas.”
(snip)

Once amphibious warship USS Wasp (LHD-1) becomes part of the U.S. 7th Fleet, it is scheduled to deploy as part of a new, improved, Expeditionary Strike Group that will combine a three-ship Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) with a three ship guided-missile destroyer surface action group (SAG).

[cwydro]

2. Good to hear this,

I hope they can save lives.