Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.



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USNS Comfort Begins Work in Haiti And Prepares To Expand Medical Capability
Source: US Navy

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy hospital ship, USNS COMFORT (T-AH 20), arrived off the coast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Jan. 20 and began receiving injured patients from the local hospitals and international medical facilities currently in Haiti.

The ship deployed from its homeport in Baltimore Jan. 16 with an overall crew of 850 that included a medical team comprised of 550 medical and non-medical support staff, including Navy doctors, nurses, corpsmen, technicians and support staff ready to provide a host of medical services including primary care, trauma care, pediatric care, orthopedic care and more.

The embarked medical support team will be augmented by 350 additional team members who are scheduled to arrive on board the ship in the next few days. With the additional medical staff, the hospital ship will have the capability to increase available beds from its current configuration of 250 -- set up during the ship's transit -- to nearly 1,000, including 880 ward beds, 80 intensive care unit beds and 20 post anesthesia care unit beds.

The augmented medical staff will also enable Comfort to expand its operating room capability from 6 to 11. A twelfth operating room is specifically designed to support advanced interventional radiology procedures.

The ship will initially receive urgent surgical patients. Patients transported to the hospital ship will have a family member escort, if available. After treatment, the ship's medical personnel will determine the patient's follow-on care. Additionally, medical teams from the hospital ship will move ashore to help in casualty evaluation and are prepared to triage crush wounds and burn injuries and other health issues.

Comfort is part of a larger United States response to the government of Haiti request for humanitarian assistance. The U.S. effort is being coordinated by the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development.

Comfort was last in Haiti in April 2009 for 12 days as part of Continuing Promise 2009.


Mission Packages Key to LCS Capabilities
Source: US Navy

MOBILE, Ala. --- The littoral combat ship (LCS) is revolutionary in its use of modularity and open-architecture to ensure it is able to adapt to the ever-changing threat environment.

"LCS has some core capabilities, but it is largely self-defensive," said Capt. Michael Good, program manager, LCS Mission Modules. "The embarkable mission package augments the sea-frame and gives LCS offensive capabilities in three focused mission areas: mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare."

"We're more versatile," said Lt. Cmdr. James Schmitt, the pilot of an MH-60S helicopter that arrived aboard Pre-Commissioning Unit Independence (LCS 2) Jan. 12. "It is part of the master plan to incorporate more capabilities into fewer platforms." Schmitt said the helicopter is specifically designed for the mine countermeasures mission, but it is still able to support other needs the ship may have.

The MH-60S, from Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, along with mine countermeasure equipment from LCS Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Detachment 1, represents a mission package that can be assembled to meet the specific and changing demands of the maritime strategy.

Mineman 1st Class Ricardo Contreras, who served on a mine countermeasures ship and is now as part of the LCS MCM detachment, was impressed with the improvements.

"Since the mission module allows us to be on an LCS, we can go where we need to go a lot quicker and the unmanned vehicles allow us to reduce the risk necessary to accomplish the mission."

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused ship that demonstrates the latest in naval warfighting technology. The ship is specifically designed to defeat "anti-access" threats in shallow, coastal water regions, including fast surface craft, quiet diesel submarines, and mines. To meet the combatant commander's increased demand for mission-tailored forces packages, LCS features an interchangeable modular design that allows the ship to be reconfigured to meet mission requirements.

Independence will be commissioned Jan. 16 in Mobile, Ala. Following commissioning, Independence will conduct further testing and evaluation before eventually heading toward its homeport in San Diego.




T-AH 19 Mercy Class

Today’s website is the T-AH 19 Mercy Class. Enjoy.


This Day in U.S. Naval History

1821 - The schooner, Lynx, sails from St. Mary's, Ga. for the West Indes and disappears en route.
1954 - Launching of USS Nautilus (SSN 571), first nuclear submarine, at Groton, Conn.
1961 - USS George Washington completes first operational voyage of fleet ballistic missile submarine staying submerged 66 days.


Photo of the Day



USS George Washington on patrol.

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