The second USS Mercy (AH-8) was a Comfort-class hospital ship laid down under Maritime Commission contract by Consolidated Steel Corporation at the Wilmington Yard, Wilmington, California, on 4 February 1943. She was acquired by the US Navy from the Maritime Commission on 25 March 1943 and launched the same day, sponsored by Lieutenant (junior grade) Doris M. Yetter, NC, USN, who had been a prisoner of war on Guam in 1941. She was converted from a cargo ship to a hospital ship by Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, San Pedro, California and commissioned 7 August 1944, with Captain Thomas A. Esling, USNR, in command.