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25-518: As a result of a 2012 reorganization, Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force was renamed Combat Logistics Force, with some of its ship categories being transferred to a new Service Support program. Fifteen fleet replenishment oilers , the largest subset of Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force ships, provide fuel to deployed Navy ships at sea, as well as to their assigned aircraft. Oilers and the ships they refuel sail side by side as fuel hoses are extended across guide wires. Underway replenishment of fuel dramatically extends

50-715: A fuelling station was built for the purpose of replenishing coal supplies for ships or railway locomotives. The term is often associated with 19th and early 20th century seaports associated with blue water navies , who used coaling stations as a means of extending the range of warships . In the late 19th century, steamships powered by coal began to replace sailing ships as the principal means of propulsion for ocean transport. Fuelling stations transitioned to oil as boilers moved from being coal-fired to oil- or hybrid oil-and-coal-firing, coal being completely replaced as steam engines gave way to internal combustion and gas turbine power plants. The need for naval fuelling stations

75-496: A small contingent of MSC civil service mariners and Navy hospital personnel aboard to ensure the ships are ready should they be needed. When called into action, they can get underway in five days with an expanded crew of more than 60 civil service mariners and an expanded medical staff of up to approximately 1,200 military medical personnel. The Auxiliary Fleet's hospital ships are the: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

100-444: Is called underway replenishment . 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 . These ships, when operating in concert with surface groups, can act as an aviation maintenance platform where helicopters receive more extensive maintenance than can be provided by

125-671: Is no longer in use. All of these oilers provide the combined services of the AO, AE, AFS and AK. The style " USNS " and prefix " T " identify a ship as being operated by a civilian crew under the Military Sealift Command (known as the Military Sea Transportation Service until 1970). There are three classes of vessels currently in commissioned service: Both the Henry J. Kaiser-class and Supply class will be replaced by

150-562: The Phalanx CIWS close-in weapons systems), small arms, machine guns and/or light automatic cannons. They may also carry man-portable air-defense systems for additional air defense capability. In the United States Navy , an Oiler is a Combat Logistics ship that replenishes other ships with fuel and in some cases food, mail, ammunition and other necessities while at sea, in a process called Underway Replenishment or UNREP. Up through

175-508: The Second World War Navy oilers used commercial tanker hulls, with the addition of UNREP gear, defensive guns, and military electronic and damage-control equipment; since the 1950s however they have been built from the keel up as specialized naval auxiliaries. They were previously classified as Fleet Oilers in the 20th century; under the current MSC operation their full classification is listed as Fleet Replenishment Oilers . Since

200-495: The United States Navy . Replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The United States Navy's hull classification symbol for this type of ship was 'AOR' (Auxiliary Oil Replenishment). Replenishment oilers are slower and carry fewer dry stores than

225-455: The fast combat support ship include the large British Fort class, displacing 31,066 long tons (31,565 t) and measuring 669 feet (204 m) in length and the United States' Supply -class USNS  Arctic , which displaces 48,800 long tons (49,600 t) and has an overall length of 754 feet (230 m). For all but the largest navies, replenishment oilers are typically one of

250-501: The 1960s the classification Transport Oiler (AOT) has applied to tankers which ship petroleum products to depots around the world, but do not engage in UNREP. The first fleet oilers were identified by the hull designation AO, which is still in use. Large, fast multifunction oilers which also provide ammunition and dry stores are identified as Fast Combat Support Ships (AOE), and mid-size ones Replenishment Oilers (AOR). The AOR designation

275-875: The China Sea; at Hong Kong on the Chinese coast; at Chagos , Seychelles , or Mauritius in the Indian Ocean; at Thursday Island and Suva , Fiji, in the South Pacific: (British) and at Honolulu , Pago Pago and Manila in the Pacific for the United States. While defense of naval fuelling stations has historically focused on attack by other naval powers the USS Cole bombing in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000 has focused attention on

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300-494: The John Lewis-class ships. Coaling station Fuelling stations , also known as coaling stations , are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil ) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feeding units in fossil-fuel power stations . Initially named a coaling station due to the use of coal for steam generation,

325-447: The Navy fleet with towing service and can tow Navy vessels as large as battleships. When augmented by Navy divers, fleet ocean tugs assist in the recovery of downed ships and aircraft. In addition, when carrying specialized equipment, the fleet ocean tugs can also perform submarine rescue operations. The Auxiliary fleet's tugs are: The MSC's four rescue and salvage ships recover objects from

350-506: The Navy's carrier strike groups and other naval forces worldwide. Designed to operate for extended periods at sea, the Lewis and Clark -class ships have improved cargo handling equipment that increases efficiency and makes the ships more cost effective to operate and maintain. All of the Lewis and Clark -class ships are named after great American pioneers. These ships are listed as follows: The Military Sealift Command's fleet ocean tugs provide

375-450: The US Navy's modern fast combat support ships , which carry the classification 'AOE'. In 2020 the US Navy began to develop a new type of ship, the 'AOL' or light replenishment oiler ; construction of the first is planned for 2026. 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

400-520: The essentials to replenish Navy ships at sea. MSC's fast combat support ships, formerly sailor-operated, transferred to MSC for civil service crewing beginning in 2001. The fourteen Military Sealift Command Lewis and Clark -class dry cargo/ammunition ships are a new class of ships dedicated to the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force. These ships are able to deliver ammunition, provisions, stores, spare parts, potable water and petroleum products to

425-417: The importance of ship defense during refueling operations even in friendly fuelling stations. As international trade grew a defined set of fixed routes, sea lanes were established with fuelling stations appearing at strategic points along these routes. Since most fuelling stations did not possess natural resources in coal or oil the "bunkering" trade of transporting coal and oil to fuelling stations consumed

450-438: The largest ships in the fleet. 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

475-840: The principal ports of the British Isles , Canada , Australia , New Zealand , British Africa, or India . In addition, there were facilities for coaling vessels at St. Helena , Ascension , and the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic; at Jamaica and Bermuda in the North Atlantic, at Gibraltar , Malta , and Port Said in the Mediterranean ; at Aden , on the Gulf of Aden; at Colombo in Ceylon (Sri Lanka); at Singapore ; and at Labuan in

500-402: 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 worldwide. One of the first generation of "blue-water" navy oiler support vessels

525-537: The sea, tow or debeach stranded vessels and provide firefighting assistance. These ships, like fleet ocean tugs, are able to lift objects as heavy as downed ships and aircraft. The key advantage of these ships is their ability to rapidly deploy divers to conduct rescue and salvage operations. They are identified as follows: MSC's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force operates the Navy's two hospital ships each containing 12 operating rooms and up to 1,000 beds. The ships are normally kept pierside in reduced operating status, each with

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550-539: The smaller hangars of the escorting ships. Their size, additional facilities, and ability to support the operation of other vessels, means that replenishment oilers have been used as command ships , with some ships, such as the French Durance class , this capability being built into the vessels from the start. 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

575-593: The time a Navy battle group can remain at sea. The fifteen ships of the oiler fleet are as follows: Ammunition ships supply ordnance to Navy combatants at sea, providing service through a combination of alongside transfers and vertical replenishment lifts via helicopter. The ammunition ships of the Auxiliary Fleet are: MSC's four fast combat support ships provide one-stop shopping to the fleet for fuel, ammunition, food and other cargo. These ships are especially valuable because of their speed and ability to carry all

600-732: Was a key driver of colonialism in Oceania . The American-German dispute over the Pago Pago coaling station was the driving factor behind the 1887-1889 Samoan crisis . The Melanesian island of New Caledonia , with its local coal mines, enabled maritime transport within the second French colonial empire and spurred rivalries with Japanese and Australian naval interests. Countries with large naval forces must maintain means for fuelling their fleets in times of conflict, to this end defended fuelling stations were set up around theaters of operations. Examples of such fuelling stations were almost any of

625-1186: Was the British RFA Kharki , active 1911 in the run-up to the First World War . Such vessels heralded the transition from coal to oil as the fuel of warships and removed the need to rely on, and operate within range of coaling stations. During the Second World War , the United States Navy's dramatically enlarged fleets, especially those in the Pacific Theater , required massive quantities of black oil, diesel oil , avgas , and other fuels and lubricants to support American land, sea, and air operations against remote, widely dispersed Japanese forces. Those supply demands resulted in U.S. Navy personnel refining many established practices for oilers and creating new procedures for replenishing warships while underway and for transporting highly combustible materials with increased effectiveness through hostile waters and over vast ocean distances. Modern examples of

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