Do these still have a military purpose, or are they just there

Unless you've somehow miraculously discovered how to make humans stop being hurt, yes they have a purpose.

>it's a pain in the ass to set up a hospital halfway around the world
>ships are the most efficient form of transportation
>it is logistically simpler to assemble the hospital on a ship and sail to a harbor than it is to break down a hospital into a million containers, ship it somewhere, and then reassemble it

It's a pretty efficient way of providing medical service to a given area on a fairly short notice.

>>34139688
2 purposes-
-Advanced surgical needs that are not available on even carriers
-Raising goodwill around the world, thus making people hate us less

>>34139729
I believe that OP was asking more about military/combat purposes, like how similar ships were used during D-Day as casualty evacuation ships or whatever.

I mean, I'd assume that >>34139900 is correct, so

>>34139688
-Proper hospital were you need it
-safe from enemy attacks

>>34139983
How is it safe from military attacks? Due to some (((international agreements)))? As if a real enemy would respect that.

>>34139688

>Do these still have a military purpose

The "military purpose" is that if there were a major military operation that resulted in mass casualties for U.S. or allied forces, you need to have a place to put all those people where they can be treated. There haven't been any conflicts in recent memory that have required a ship like that, but in wars like WW1 and WW2, you could have easily had that ship packed to maximum capacity with wounded soldiers after a typical battle.

Yes, as someone who is on a state DMAT team, setting up a field hospital takes days to get fully functional.

One 19x35 tent takes 4 people about 90 minutes to go from nothing to fully functional, wired, climate control room. And that doesn't include the water plant, showers, waste management systems, data tents ground and air access ect.

The boat pulls up and is ready to rock

>>34141209
>Real enemy
The ones capable of striking a hospital ship will and have in the past.

The type that would, couldn't.

File: 180xci6wvij8pjpg.jpg (69KB, 800x450px) Image search: [Google]

69KB, 800x450px

>>34139688

Those things are enormous. Scary to think about what sort of situation would actually require the use of such a vessel.....

>>34141390
Generally natural disasters, one basically lives in SEA and goes when typhoons blow little brown people away

File: 1490788924041.png (26KB, 633x623px) Image search: [Google]

26KB, 633x623px

>>34139688
>mfw my uncle who was a sailor in WW2 married a british nurse(my aunt) off of an anglo hospital ship

>>34139983
>safe
It was considered a warcrime to sink them but that didn't stop anybody. Nobody was prosecuted for sinking them due to the excuse that they looked so much like warships despite the white paint and massive fucking cross. Also, with all that crowded space disease is more likely to spread without proper sanitation.

>>34139688
Some hadji is licking his lips in anticipation of suicide bombing this thing

>>34141551

Does this hadji have the ability to teleport onto ships?

>>34139688

how well armoured are these ships,were they ever armed?

>>34141578
You've never heard of the USS Cole?

PLEASE SON

>>34141500
Fuck that image gets me every time.

>>34141608
They aren't iirc.

They have no armed, and shouldn't be, as they have strictly humanitarian missions.

>>34141348
Uh, what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospital_ships_sunk_in_World_War_II

>>34141209
Both the UK and the Argies respected those agreements and ignored each others hospital ships during the Falklands War.

File: RFA_Argus_off_the_coast_of_Devonport.jpg (180KB, 1200x783px) Image search: [Google]

180KB, 1200x783px

Ours is armed so, under the Geneva Convention, can't be called a Hospital Ship. It's designated as a Primary Casualty Receiving Ship (PCRS). She still has all the functionality of a full Hospital Ship, but comes with added protection.

In the event of a real war. Where you can't ship any injured person away to Germany with in a day. The hospital ship is going to be your best bet.

>>34141390
Goddamn, I never realized just how big those are.

>>34142192
carriers are small compared to tankers and container ships. that hospital ship is a converted tanker, a small tanker.

loaded mass of a container ship, is 6 times that of a carrier.

>>34142191
What's this mythical 'real war' I keep hearing about? Were Afghanistan or Iraq not real wars? Vietnam?

Total war could be a thing, but I don't think casualty evac is going to be priority in event of thermonuclar holocaust .

>>34141628
People have sunk their own ships as well in ww2. What's your point?

>>34142242
Near Peer conflicts.

where you don't bother to set up bases and live in vehicles and holes in the ground. The forward camps are way in the rear. The air space is contested, or at least full of enemy indirect fire support.

>>34142288
The claim was that major powers don't attack hospital ships.

But they do. Multiple times, from both sides. And it's not just stray shells or anything, these are bomber and submarine strikes.

>>34142160
What are they armed with? If it is just a few 50. Cals that's not very armed ship wises.

>>34141628
>will and have in the past

Neither of the navy's hospital ships really deploy like combatant ships do. Pretty much their only purpose these days are for humanitarian missions.
Militarily speaking, there simply hasn't been a need for them. Battles resulting in mass casualties just don't happen anymore. At least not to the extent that makes filling up a hospital ship the most practical solution.

I knew an HM who was stationed on the USS Comfort for a while. He got to do a humanitarian tour and earned himself a neat ribbon for it.

>>34142356
They don't try to sink them, just like they won't try to shoot a chaplain on the field. Stray bullets and shells still happen, though, and it was often hard to properly identify your targets in ww2.

File: 7492cfae92db6f90a637a7e488229d65[1].jpg (879KB, 2100x1500px) Image search: [Google]

879KB, 2100x1500px

>>34142235
>loaded mass of a container ship, is 6 times that of a carrier.

I believe it. There's a lot of empty space on carriers.

>>34142771
Mercy class ships are shit, but the hospital ship concept isn't a bad one.

They should have build them from purpose-designed ships, or converted a liner.

>>34141608
It's totally unarmed
and on paper, it's against international law to attack unarmed non-offensive hospital ship.

>>34142473

Not much at all, just 2x 20mm autocannons and 4 GPMGs.

>>34142771
Sign up for the military to be a social worker for third worlders
Wonderful huh
But I guess with Immigration everyone will be s social worker for them soon enough

>>34141209
>((( )))
kill yourself /pol/tard

>>34142242
>Were Afghanistan or Iraq not real wars? Vietnam?
Is a thirty year old MMA fighter punching out a twelve year old a real fight?

>>34142160
>Ours is armed so, under the Geneva Convention, can't be called a Hospital Ship.
Pretty sure the Geneva conventionS allow it, just like they actually allow for medics to be armed for self defense and defense of their charges.
Are you sure this ship doesn't have assignments and missions that make it more than just a hospital ship? Apparently it is fitted to house attack helicopters, which may be the reason.

None of you have a clue what you're talking about, do you

>>34142160
>>34144216
See https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Article.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=2CE06C22F485DC93C12563CD0051A793
Hospital ships having defensive armament is okay.

>>34139688
Most of it is for money laundering purposes.