The Type 702 Berlin class replenishment ships are the largest vessels of the Deutsche Marine (German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Navy

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

). In German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, this type of ship is called Einsatzgruppenversorger which can be translated as task force supplier though the official translation in English is combat support ship, or in military parlance, a replenishment oiler

Replenishment Oiler

A replenishment oiler or fleet tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds, which can replenish other ships while underway in the high seas. Such ships are used by several countries around the world....

.

They are intended to support German naval units away from their home ports. The ships carry fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

, provisions, ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

 and other matériel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....

 and also provide medical services. The ships are named after German cities where German parliaments were placed.

The requirement of the German navy was for two ships of this class. The more expensive third unit is under construction by a consortium of several German shipyards and is widely considered to serve more as financial assistance to the shipyards than as a necessary component of the navy.

General characteristics

• Builder: Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft
  Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft
  Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company is trading as Flensburger and commonly abbrevated FSG.-History:...
  
  , Flensburg
  Flensburg
  Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
  
  , Germany
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
  
• Power Plant: 2 × MAN Diesel 12V 32/40 diesel-engines, 5,340 kW each; 2 reduction gears, 2 controllable pitch four-bladed propellers, 1 bow thruster
• Length: 173.7 metre
• Beam: 24 metre
• Displacement: 20,240 tonnes
• Capacity: 9330 tonnes of fuel oil, aviation fuel and fresh water
• Cargo space: 550 tonnes mixed cargo
• Speed: 20 kn (39.2 km/h)
• Aircraft: 2 × Sea King
  Westland Sea King
  The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
  
   or MH90
  NHI NH90
  The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter manufactured by NHIndustries. The first prototype had its maiden flight in December 1995...
  
   helicopters
• Armament: 4 × MLG 27 mm
  Mauser BK-27
  The BK 27 is a caliber revolver cannon manufactured by Mauser of Germany...
  
   autocannon
  Autocannon
  An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
  
  s, Stinger
  FIM-92 Stinger
  The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile , which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters , developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
  
   surface to air missile (MANPADS),
• Crew: 139 (+ 94), plus hospital capacity of 43 patients

List of ships

Pennant number Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...	Name	Call sign Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...	Commissioned	Homeport
A1411	Berlin	DRKA	April 11, 2001	Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
A1412	Frankfurt am Main	DRKB	May 27, 2002	Kiel Kiel Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
A1413	Bonn	(ordered)

External links

• Manufacturer's Website