United States Navy oiler

United States Navy oiler
USNS Mispillion (T-AO-105) conducting an underway replenishment.

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.[1] Up through 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[2] in the 20th Century; under the current MSC operation their full classification is listed as Fleet Replenishment Oilers.[3] Since 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 [4] were identified by the hull designation AO, which is still in use.[3] Larger multifunction oilers which also provide ammunition and dry stores are identified as Fast Combat Support Ships (AOE),[5] and mid-size ones Replenishment Oilers (AOR). The AOR designation 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 the Military Sealift Command (known as the Military Sea Transportation Service until 1970).

Contents

US Navy oiler classes

Fleet Oilers (AO)

Note: tonnages are given in Naval light/full load displacement

Kanawha class

The Kanawha-class was a class of six ships commissioned between 1914 and 1921, of which the first three displaced 5,950/14,800 tons, and the next three (AO-4 to AO-6) displaced 5,723/14,500 tons. Until 1920 they were designated "Fueling Ship No. 1" etc. Three of these oilers were lost to enemy action during World War II.

Arethusa, Sara Thompson and Robert L. Barnes

Wartime acquisitions of civilian tankers. Arethusa was built in Britain 1893 as the SS Lucilene and was purchased in 1898, serving originally as a water carrier. Sara Thompson, 2690/5840 tons, was also British-built, in 1888 as the SS Gut Heil, and was purchased in 1917. Robert L. Barnes, a 1630/3850-ton Great Lakes tanker, was built in 1914 and purchased in 1918. With the advent of the Navy's new hull-numbering system in 1920 they were designated AO-7, AO-8 and AO-14.

Patoka class

In 1919 - '20 the U.S. Navy commissioned eight Patoka-class oilers of 5,422/16,800 tons displacement.

Kaweah class and Alameda

These were four 5450/14,500-ton tankers built to USSB Design 1128 between 1919 and 1921. Alameda was purchased from civilian service as the SS Alameda; the other three were built for the government.

Cimarron class (1939)

The Cimarron-class was a class of 35 fast twin-screw oilers that began entering service in 1939. Four of the ships were converted into escort carriers (CVEs) in 1942, and two were lost in combat. The first 30 of these ships were of the U.S. Maritime Commission's Type T3-S2-A1 (7,256/24,830 tons displacement); the last five were of the very similar but slightly larger T3-S2-A3 type (7,423/25,480 tons), sometimes called the Mispillion class.

From 1964 through 1967, eight of the T3 type oilers were "jumboized". This jumboization was done by cutting the ships in two with cutting torches, then the aft section was pulled away, and new mid-body moved in and welded to the bows and sterns. After many other cutting and welding modifications a new long ship was created; the jumbos were known as the Ashtabula class.

USS Kaskaskia (AO-27) pioneered the superior span-wire or "Elwood" refueling rig in December 1944. The first ram-tensioned rig was installed on the USS Pawcatuck (AO-108) in 1954.[6]

Chicopee class

In January 1942 the Navy moved to acquire two tankers then building for Standard Oil of New Jersey, the 5800/21,800 ton Esso Trenton and Esso Albany. These ships although not a Maritime Commission design were in fact very similar to the T2-A type commissioned as the Mattaponi class, and at 17+ knots were the fastest single-screw oilers in the Navy.

Kennebec class

The second large oiler class built during World War II was the Kennebec-class. These 16 ships were of the single-screw MARAD type T2 (5580/21,000t, 16.5kt), larger T2-A (5880/21,750t, 16.5kt) and similar but somewhat slower T3-S-A1 (5630/21,000t, 15.3kt).

Big Horn and Victoria

Gulf Oil's 1936 Gulf Dawn was requisitioned in April 1942, renamed Big Horn and nominally designated AO-45; in fact she was modified into a Q-ship, a U-boat decoy equipped with concealed guns. SS George G. Henry had already served in the Navy in 1917-18 under her own name; as one of the few tankers to escape the Philippines in December 1941 and be available to the Allied fleet in Australia, she was recommissioned under an emergency bare-boat charter at Melbourne the following April. Her civilian master, a Naval Reserve officer, was placed on active duty and continued in command.

Suamico class

The third large oiler class built during World War II was the Suamico class. These 5730/21,880-ton oilers were of the MARAD Types T2-SE-A1, -A2 and -A3, differing from the Kennebecs principally in having turbo-electric drive, a consequence of a chronic shortage of reduction gearing. The Escambias had more powerful engines and were markedly faster than the others. 30 of these oilers were ordered, but three of them were canceled before their completion; two others were converted into water distillation ships (AW) and one into a water tanker. One of these oilers sank in 1947, and a second in MSC service in 1972. Some of the Escambias were later transferred to the US Army and used as mobile electric power plants in Vietnam.

Atascosa

The Navy requisitioned Standard Oil's 6000/24,100-ton Esso Columbia shortly after her launch in September 1942.

Pasig and Shikellamy

The elderly tanker J. C. Donnell was acquired in January 1943 with the intent of using her as a floating storage tank at New Caledonia. When it turned out that concrete barges could fulfill that role, the briefly USS Pasig was returned to her owners in September. Her name was given to one of the Escambia class, AO-91. Sinclair Oil's Daniel Pierce was requisitioned in March 1943 and renamed USS Shikellamy (AO-90); in July however she was converted to a gasoline tanker and redesignated AOG-47.

Neosho class

The 11,600/38,000-ton Neosho-class oilers were the first streamlined oilers built for the U.S. Navy, the first oilers since World War 2 and the first designed from the outset to support jet operations. Six of these oilers were completed during 1954 and 55. "They were the first oilers designed specifically for underway replenishment. The final PROBE fueling device design was approved in 1965, consisting of a male fitting attached to the terminal end of a seven-inch hose".[7] The Neoshos were also markedly larger than any previous USN oilers at over 650 feet in length (T6 class) with a capacity of 180,000 barrels of fuel.


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