USS Kearsarge Medevacs British Seafarer

On December 20, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge medevaced a British mariner from the British-flagged naval auxiliary Eddystone.

An MH-60S Sea Hawk of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26 flew the patient to Kearsarge for a medical evaluation after the San Antonio-class amphb USS Arlington received a request for assistance.  In keeping with her purpose, Kearsarge has the medical facilities to provide intensive care for up to 600 patients at a time, including four main and two auxiliary operating rooms, three smaller casualty-receiving stations and a blood bank.

According to the U.S. Navy, the patient is in good condition on board Kearsarge and will be taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda. 

"As Sailors we inherently understand the need to respond to the calls of distressed mariners at sea, so when we received a distress call this afternoon stating a civilian mariner with a serious medical condition required immediate care, Kearsarge quickly responded,” said Navy Capt. Jason Rimmer, commanding officer of the Kearsarge. “Increasing sea state in the western Atlantic and overwhelming distances between the mariner's ship and the nearest hospital made it apparent that Kearsarge would need to medevac the patient to our ship so that our expert medical staff could provide prompt medical care. I'm extremely proud of how well our crew performed today."

Kearsarge and Arlington, along with the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry are members of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, which is on a regularly scheduled deployment.

Eddystone is a Point-class ro/ro sealift ship operated by Foreland Shipping Limited (FSL) on behalf of the Royal Navy.