MERCY (USNS Mercy)

USNS Mercy (T-AH-19), the lead ship of the US Navy’s Mercy-class hospital ships, a converted San Clemente-class tanker operated by Military Sealift Command with around 1,000 patient beds and twelve operating rooms. As a clearly marked hospital ship it carries Geneva Convention protected status and is used for humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and military medical support rather than combat. It illustrates the auxiliary and support-vessel classes that sit alongside warships in a navy’s order of battle.