Free Republic

When USNS Comfort sailed into the New York Harbor on Monday, expectations run high, particularly among hospital doctors and personnel. Throngs of New Yorkers rushed to Manhattan’s west side to see a symbol of hope in all its glory dock at Pier 90 in Manhattan. Today, the huge white vessel remains almost empty, with only 20 patients being accommodated in a floating hospital that can handle 1,000 patients. he Comfort is supposed to relieve the pressure on New York hospitals by taking in patients with non-coronavirus ailments. This will help hospital officials and personnel in New York City to focus...

The USS Conestoga left the Navy yard at Mare Island, Calif., on Good Friday, 1921, bound for Pearl Harbor, with a complement of 56 sailors. It cleared the Golden Gate at 3:25 p.m. and steamed into the Gulf of the Farallones in heavy seas. Conestoga was a rugged oceangoing tug that had once hauled coal barges for a Pennsylvania railroad. But 17 years after its launch in Baltimore, it had undergone hard use and had a reputation as a “wet boat,” one that shipped water easily. At 4 p.m. that day, as the San Francisco light ship recorded big waves...

Embroiled by legal battles for more than 25 years, two U.S. Navy ships are finally headed to the scrap heap without ever having sailed and despite the fact that they're almost completely finished. According to Hampton Roads, the USNS Bejamin Isherwood and the USNS Henry Eckford were commissioned in 1985 at the Pennsylvania Shipbuilding Co. to carry fuel to the Navy's fleet around the globe. When the company defaulted on its Navy contract in 1989 the 660-foot ships were sent to Florida for completion, but cost disputes terminated that contract in 1993. Since then, the vessels have sat 95 and...

MOSCOW – Moscow plans to buy a French amphibious assault ship, the first such purchase from a NATO country, as the Kremlin seeks to reaffirm Russia's global reach, a Russian news agency reported Saturday. The Defense Ministry also plans to license the production of four more ships of the Mistral class in Russia under the guidance of French engineers, Navy Admiral Oleg Burtsev was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. A Mistral ship is capable of carrying more than a dozen helicopters along with dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles and is fit for missions intended to project Russian...

SANTA ANA - A federal agent testified Friday that investigators found a computer disk with sensitive details on the Navy's next generation of destroyers when they searched the home of a Chinese-American engineer accused of illegally sending technology information to China. FBI Special Agent James Gaylord said the CD was found at the home of Chi Mak after his arrest and it contained materials related to the so-called DDX, highly advanced guided-missile warships that are under development. The documents were sent by the Navy to companies during contract bidding, including the company Mak worked for, Power Paragon Inc. The company...

Descendants of Sacagawea will be on hand Saturday as a Navy resupply ship bearing the Indian guide's name will be christened and launched into a bay. "This is a very humbling experience, not just for our family but for the whole tribe," said Rod Ariwite Sr. of Pocatello, Idaho, a descendant of Sacagawea and member of the Shoshone people. "This ship will be out there carrying Sacagawea's name long after I am gone." The Sacagawea will carry a crew of 172 and has the largest flight deck in the Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary. The 41,000-ton vessel also is...

NEW YORK - With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship USS New York has already made history — twice. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center, and it survived Hurricane Katrina. That combination of disasters gives the ship a unique standing among the 500 or so Avondale, La., shipyard workers building it, said Tony Quaglino, a crane superintendent who postponed retirement to have a hand in the New York's construction. "I think Katrina made us more aware of the tragedy in New York," said...