– Military Times – Federal and military aid for Puerto Rico increased Tuesday, including news that the hospital ship Comfort would be deployed, as officials got a clearer picture of the obscene destruction Hurricane Maria wrought on the U.S. territory.

– USNI News – Navy and Marine Corps are working to reopen airfields and clear debris from the main roads of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as part of the ongoing Hurricane Maria relief efforts.

– USNI News – Aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), with embarked Carrier Strike Group 12 (CSG-12) staff and the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG-56), has left the Florida coast, having turned over the Navy’s sea-based Hurricane Irma relief efforts to Carrier Strike Group 10. Thursday night, Carrier Strike Group 10 – amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD-21) and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Farragut (DDG-99) – arrived in position off the coast of the Florida Keys.

– USNI News – Positioned off the coast of Florida, helicopters from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) are now delivering food and water to Florida as part of the Hurricane Irma relief effort. USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and USS New York (LPD 21) are expected to join the relief effort Tuesday.

– USNI News – The Navy sent the ships to sea ahead of the storm’s landfall last week, in order to be able to quickly assist with recovery efforts. The ships can provide medical support, security, logistic support, medium and heavy lift air support, and can assist state and federal agencies assessing damage. Before the Navy can provide assistance, a formal request must be made by state and federal officials.

– USNI News – Amphibious warships USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) are positioned to support hurricane relief efforts, if civilian authorities make a request for assistance.

– USNI News – Amphibious warships USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) are set to set sail on Thursday under orders Wednesday from Adm. Phil Davidson, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, to provide humanitarian aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.

– USNI News – The Navy is preparing USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) to assist ongoing recovery efforts in the Texas and Louisiana gulf coast region following Hurricane Harvey.

– USNI News – Marines and sailors from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD-48) returned to Saipan in the Northern Marianas with heavy equipment to restore power and water purifiers to provide as much as 40,000 gallons of drinking water after the island was devastated by a typhoon last week..

– USNI News – Amphibious warship USS Ashland (LSD-48) and elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are bound for Saipan — at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — to assist in disaster relief following the devastating landfall of Typhoon Soudelor last week.

– BBC – About 100 US marines, two helicopters and four Ospreys capable of vertical take-off are now in Kathmandu.

– War is Boing – The Chinese navy’s giant hospital ship Peace Ark has begun search-and-rescue operations in The Philippines, some three weeks after one of history’s biggest recorded typhoons smashed into the archipelago nation and killed thousands of people. Meanwhile America’s own Pacific Ocean hospital ship, the much larger Mercy, remains in port in California—Washington having determined that, nearly a month after the storm, Manila no longer needs the vessel’s expansive, cutting-edge facilities.

– BBC – When the decision was taken to deploy HMS Illustrious to the Philippines it was patrolling for pirates off the coast of Somalia.

– War is Boring – Controversial tiltrotors revamping their reputation in The Philippines.

– BBC – British warship HMS Daring has docked in the Philippines to help the UK’s emergency response to Typhoon Haiyan.

– War is Boring – On Nov. 13, 2013, the U.S. Pacific Fleet activated the San Diego-based USNS Mercy, one of America’s two giant hospital ships, to help out in The Philippines after the archipelago nation was devastated by one of history’s biggest recorded storms. Mercy’s deployment is part of wider humanitarian strategy.

– War is Boring – How will the U.S. help, though? Here’s a primer, based on announced deployments and previous disaster relief efforts.

– USNI News – The Navy is activating the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) to the Philippines as part of the ongoing U.S. disaster effort following Super Typhoon Haiyan. If ordered to deploy, Mercy would get underway in the next several days and could arrive in the Philippines sometime in December.

– BBC – The aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious will be sent to help people affected by the typhoon in the Philippines. HMS Illustrious is currently in the Gulf and is expected to arrive in the Philippines on 24 November. The carrier will relieve destroyer HMS Daring, which is already on its way and should arrive on Saturday.

– BBC – A US aircraft carrier and its escort of two cruisers have arrived off the Philippines coast to help communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.

– USNI News – The U.S. Navy is preparing two amphibious warships to join the disaster relief effort in the Philippines. USS Germantown (LSD-42) and USS Ashland (LSD-48) will shortly depart from Naval Station Sasebo, Japan and will arrive sometime next week.