Replenishment Oiler - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A replenishment oiler or fleet tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds, which can replenish

Underway replenishment

Underway replenishment or replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way.-History:...

other ships while underway in the high seas. Such ships are used by several countries around the world.

The US Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

hull classification symbol

Hull classification symbol

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...

for this type of ship was AOR before the classification was discontinued. The lead ship in the class was the Wichita. In the Soviet/Russian Navy it has been the Boris Chilikin
Boris Chilikin class fleet oiler
The Boris Chilikin class is a class of fleet replenishment oilers used by the Russian Navy.-External links:*http://warfare.ru/?linkid=2146&catid=300...

type, and in the Canadian Navy, the Protecteur class

Protecteur class auxiliary vessel

Protecteur-class auxiliary oiler replenishment ships are used by the Royal Canadian Navy to resupply ships at sea with food, munitions, fuel and spare parts. They have more sophisticated medical and dental facilities than smaller vessels...

. AORs are slower and carry fewer dry stores than Fast Combat Support Ship

Fast combat support ship

The fast combat support ship is the United States Navy's largest combat logistics ship, designed as an oiler, ammunition and supply ship. All fast combat support ships currently in service are operated by Military Sealift Command . The AOE has the speed and armament to keep up with carrier battle...

(AOE) ships (lead ship USS Sacramento). The word Replenishment is now included in the hull identification of the Fleet Replenishment Oiler - AO.

History of design

The development of the oiler paralleled the change from coal to oil fired boilers in warships. Prior to the adoption of oil fired machinery, navies could extend the range of their ships either by maintaining coaling stations or for warships to raft together with colliers and for coal to be manhandled aboard. Though arguments related to fuel security were made against such a change, the ease with which liquid fuel could be transferred led in part to its adoption by navies world wide.

The forerunner of the modern replenishment oiler was a Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

(German Navy) ship, the Dithmarschen, which was built in 1938. The Dithmarschen was designed to provide fuel and stores (including munitions) in a "One Stop Shopping At Sea" context to the German fleet. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

she was claimed by the United States as a war prize and commissioned into the United States Navy as the USS Conecuh (AOR-110). The ship proved the feasibility and flexibility of this sort of vessel in supporting task forces at sea. The USS Conecuh was decommissioned in 1956.

The AOE
Fast combat support ship
The fast combat support ship is the United States Navy's largest combat logistics ship, designed as an oiler, ammunition and supply ship. All fast combat support ships currently in service are operated by Military Sealift Command . The AOE has the speed and armament to keep up with carrier battle...

class was developed first by the United States Navy as a logistics support vessel for aircraft carrier task forces, but the resulting vessel, while capable of high speed and of maintaining station as a component in the task force, was at the time the most expensive auxiliary ship ever procured by the United States Navy. For other applications not requiring high speed, such as anti-submarine groups, a smaller, less capable but much less expensive variant was desirable. This variant was the Wichita class AOR.

Characteristics of an AOR

For smaller navies, such as the Canadian Navy

Canadian Forces Maritime Command

The Royal Canadian Navy , is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Forces. Operating 33 warships and several auxiliary vessels, the Royal Canadian Navy consists of 8,500 Regular Force and 5,100 Primary Reserve sailors, supported by...

, the AOR are typically one of the largest ships in the navy. Such ships are designed to carry large amounts of fuel and dry stores for the support of naval operations far away from port. Replenishment oilers are also equipped with more extensive medical and dental facilities than smaller ships can provide.

Such ships are equipped with multiple refueling gantries to refuel and resupply multiple ships at a time. The process of refueling and supplying ships at sea is called underway replenishment

Underway replenishment

Underway replenishment or replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way.-History:...

. Furthermore, such ships often are designed with helicopter decks and hangars. This allows the operation of rotary-wing aircraft, which allows the resupply of ships by helicopter. This process is called vertical replenishment. Furthermore, such ships, when operating in concert with surface groups, can act as the aviation maintenance platform where helicopters receive more extensive maintenance than can be provided by the smaller hangars of the escorting ships.

Armament

Because the replenishment oiler is not a combat unit, but rather a support vessel, such ships are often lightly armed, usually with self-defense systems (such as the Phalanx CIWS

Phalanx CIWS

The Phalanx CIWS is an anti-ship missile defense system. It is a close-in weapon system and was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division...

close-in weapons systems), small arms, machine guns and/or light automatic cannons. They may also carry man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, for additional air defence capability.

Smaller class oilers in other navies

Navies of other countries are actively designing and building replenishment oilers similar to the of the USN

United States Navy

. These navies such as the Canadian Navy Joint Support Ship Project

Joint Support Ship Project

The Joint Support Ship Project is a project undertaken by the Canadian Forces to provide Canada with three multirole naval vessels. The Joint Support Ship will enable a Naval Task Group to remain at sea for up to six times longer than is currently possible...

and the Spanish Navy who have requirements that do not include high speed and high capacity; thus a smaller design meets the logistics needs of these navies better than a larger AOE

Fast combat support ship

design would.

History of design

Characteristics of an AOR

Armament

Smaller class oilers in other navies

See also