View source for USS Mercy (AH-8)

{{Short description|Military Vessel}}
{{other ships|USS Mercy}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[Image:USS Mercy (AH-8) in San Pedro Bay, 15 August 1944.jpg|300px|USS Mercy (AH-8) underway in San Pedro Bay, California, 15 August 1944]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Mercy'' (AH-8) underway in San Pedro Bay, California, 15 August 1944
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= [[United States]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United States|government}}
|Ship name= USS ''Mercy''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
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|Ship builder= [[Consolidated Steel Corporation]], [[Wilmington, Los Angeles, California]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down= 4 February 1943
|Ship launched=25 March 1943
|Ship sponsor= Lieutenant (j.g) Doris M. Yetter, NC, USN
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|Ship acquired=25 March 1943
|Ship commissioned= 7 August 1944
|Ship decommissioned= 17 May 1946
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|Ship struck=25 September 1946
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|Ship fate=Sold for scrap, 23 November 1970<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/12/1208.htm|title=Hospital Ship (AH) Photo Index}}</ref>
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Comfort|hospital ship}}
|Ship displacement=  {{convert|9800|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|416|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|60|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|24|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Geared turbine, single screw, {{convert|4000|shp|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|15.3|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship capacity=400 patients
|Ship complement=516
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|Ship armament=None
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{{Infobox service record
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|operations=[[World War II]]
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|awards= 2 [[Naval Star Awards|battle stars]]
}}
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The second '''USS ''Mercy'' (AH-8)''' was a {{sclass|Comfort|hospital ship}} laid down under Maritime Commission contract by [[Consolidated Steel Corporation]] at the Wilmington Yard, [[Wilmington, California]], on 4 February 1943.  She was acquired by the [[US Navy]] from the Maritime Commission on 25 March 1943 and [[ship naming and launching|launched]] the same day, sponsored by Lieutenant (junior grade) Doris M. Yetter, NC, USN, who had been a [[prisoner of war]] on [[Guam]] in 1941.  She was converted from a cargo ship to a hospital ship by Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, [[San Pedro, California]] and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] 7 August 1944.

==Service history==
''Mercy'' was one of three hospital ships, the others being {{USS|Comfort|AH-6}} and {{USS|Hope|AH-7}}, built, commanded and crewed by the Navy for the 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. The Army medical complement table of organization provided for the temporary reinforcement of the staff if the ship directly supported amphibious operations.{{sfn|Condon-Rall|Cowdrey|1998|p=258}}{{sfn|Smith|1956|pp=326, 422, 424}}

===Philippines===
After shakedown beginning 17 August, ''Mercy'', staffed by the [[United States Army|US Army]]'s 214th Hospital Ship personnel, was assigned to NTS to operate with the 5th and 7th Fleets. She departed San Pedro 31 August for the South Pacific and, after calls at [[Pearl Harbor]] and [[Eniwetok]], arrived [[Hollandia, New Guinea|Hollandia]], [[New Guinea]], 14 October. Five days later the hospital ship departed for the Philippines for the initial landing at [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]] on 20 October, arriving off [[Leyte Gulf]] the morning of 25 October to find the [[Battle for Leyte Gulf]] still raging for another day.

''Mercy'' moved to [[San Pedro Bay (Philippines)|San Pedro Bay]] later the same day and began embarking some 400 casualties, mostly from LSTs alongside. On 26 October she sailed for the [[Admiralties]], via [[Palau|Kossol Roads, Palau]], [[Caroline Islands]], arriving at [[Manus Island|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. She also transported the 3rd Field Hospital from New Guinea to [[Tacloban City|Tacloban]], [[Philippines]], early in January 1945.

===Okinawa===
On 19 March ''Mercy'' reported to the 5th Fleet at [[Naval Base Ulithi|Ulithi]], [[Caroline Islands]], for service during the [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] campaign, beginning with the landings 1 April. She arrived off Okinawa the morning of 19 April in company with {{USS|Solace|AH-5}} to remain for four days at [[Hagushi Beach]] embarking patients despite frequent air raids and threat of [[kamikaze]]s. The hospital ship then got underway for [[Saipan]], [[Marianas Islands]], 23 April. She made two more voyages to Okinąwa, returning from the latter to Saipan 24 May.

''Mercy'' next 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 August she embarked the 227th Station Hospital assigned to the [[Korean Occupation Forces]], and three days later departed for [[Korea]] via Okinawa, arriving [[Incheon|Jinsen]] 9 September.

On 19 October the hospital ship departed for Manila and [[San Pedro, California]], arriving 14 November.  She got underway for the central Pacific 4 February 1946, arriving [[Pearl Harbor]] on 12 February for duty until 2 April when she returned to [[California]].

''Mercy'' decommissioned at [[San Francisco, California]], 17 May, was delivered to the War Department the same day, and transferred to the [[United States Army|US Army]] 20 June for further service as a hospital ship. On 25 September 1946, she was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]].

''Mercy'' received two battle stars for her [[World War II]] service.

===Post-war===
She was decommissioned in 1946 and placed in reserve. In 1956, she was sold to the [[State University of New York Maritime College]] as the training ship, ''Empire State III.'' She served in this role until being replaced in 1959. She was later scrapped in 1970.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m9/mercy-ii.htm}}
*{{cite book |last1=Condon-Rall |first1=Mary Ellen |last2=Cowdrey |first2=Albert E. |year=1998 |title=The Technical Services—The Medical Department: Medical Service In The War Against Japan |series=United States Army In World War II |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Center Of Military History, United States Army |lccn=97022644 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Clarence McKittrick |year=1956 |title=The Technical Services—The Medical Department: Hospitalization And Evacuation, Zone Of Interior |series=United States Army In World War II |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Center Of Military History, United States Army |lccn=55060005 }}

{{Comfort class hospital ship}}
{{Type C1-B ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercy (AH-8)}}
[[Category:Comfort-class hospital ships]]
[[Category:Type C1-B ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Hospital ships of the United States Army]]