Meet the U.S. Navy’s Next Gen Hospital Ship

Yesterday, May 12th, the Secretary of the Navy announced the lead ship of the Navy’s future Expeditionary Medical Ship EMS(X).

Named after the home of the National Naval Medical Center, the U.S.N.S. Bethesda is actually based off the Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport and may eventually replace the aging USNS Mercy and Comfort.

Design and Capabilities

According to the Navy, the Bethesda-class expeditionary medical ships are designed as dedicated medical ships. They optimize hospital-level medical care and are capable of providing triage/critical care, three operating rooms, a medical laboratory, radiological capability, a blood bank, and much more.

Though smaller than the Mercy and Comfort, their smaller size will allow them to access areas where larger vessels could not. Not to mention their high speed (24 knots) would allow them to be deployed much faster in situations such as natural disasters.

~NC