On 8 August 1990, the day after President Bush ordered deployment of 200,000 American troops to Saudi Arabia in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Comfort was ordered activated for duty in the Middle East. Christened USNS Comfort (TAH-20) on 15 August 1987, she was deployed to Baltimore for lay berthing on 17 June 1988. The National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, designed and converted the San Clemente class tanker for service as a hospital ship. The third Comfort was delivered to the Navy on 1 December 1987. She was transferred to the Navy the same day, and converted to a hospital ship by Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro, California. The second Comfort (AH-6) was launched 18 March 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California, under a Maritime Commission contract. Robins Company of Brooklyn, the ship was renamed Comfort (AH-3) on 14 March 1918 and commissioned on 18 March. Outfitted at the New York Navy Yard by John M. On 17 July 1917, the ship was transferred to the Navy for duty as a hospital ship. It served initially as the passenger vessel Havana, before being requisitioned by the War Department at the start of World War I for use as an Army transport. William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Company of Philadelphia constructed the first Comfort (AH-3) in 1906. The 75-year history of Comfort provides an excellent example of the vital role hospital ships play in support of the Navy's mission. Navy used hospital ships during the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Navy by providing acute medical and surgical care to readiness forces throughout the world. The Navy's floating surgical hospitals have played a vital role throughout the history of the U.S.

Korean war hospital ships