Starting with a brief history of western naval medical care from the ancient Greeks and proceeding to modern times, this book chronicles the evolution of the Navy's first west coast hospital, the Mare Island Naval Hospital, as it grew from a "palatial" but primitive facility in the 1860s to the Navy's premier amputee center for Marines and sailors returning from the brutal Pacific war. Located in the Navy's largest California shipyard, the hospital benefited from healthful California weather that permitted creation of a tent hospital to care for Spanish flu victims. Navy Yard engineering and mechanical skills helped create the Navy's first ambulance boats, and in World War II, the best limb prostheses available. Hospital commanders skillfully balanced their obligations as naval officers and as physicians to provide the best possible care for their charges.

Damaged by the 1898 Mare Island earthquake, the original structure was replaced. The facility grew over time as structures representing new medical knowledge--laboratory science, neuropsychiatry, infectious diseases, internal medicine, the famous "brace shop"--came on line. Despite concerns that its proximity to the navy yard's industrial complex could lead to inadvertent (or intentional) bombing in wartime, at its peak, the hospital's 23 structures covered 48 acres and accommodated about 2,300 patients. This complete history of the Mare Island Naval Hospital draws heavily on primary sources and provides a detailed picture of this pivotal hospital.