Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
USS Patoka (AO–9/AV–6/AG–125) was a replenishment oiler made famous as a tender for the airships Shenandoah (ZR-1), Los Angeles (ZR-3) and Akron (ZRS-4). It was also notable in that its height figured prominently in the design of the Rainbow Bridge in Texas.
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 Henry J. Kaiser class is an American class of eighteen fleet replenishment oilers which began construction in August 1984. The class comprises fifteen oilers which are operated by Military Sealift Command to provide underway replenishment of fuel to United States Navy combat ships and jet fuel for aircraft aboard aircraft carriers at sea. One ship, operated by the United States from 1987 to 1996, was sold to Chile in 2009 and commissioned into the Chilean Navy in 2010; and two ships were scrapped in 2011 while still incomplete.
USS Ramapo (AO-12), was a Patoka-class replenishment oiler. It was built under U.S. Shipping Board contract, was laid down on 16 January 1919 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia; launched on 11 September 1919; and commissioned on 15 November 1919, with Lt. Comdr. J. D. Smith, USNRF, in command.
USS Trinity (AO-13) was a Patoka-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy.
USS Salinas (AO-19), a United States Navy Patoka-class replenishment oiler, was laid down for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) as Hudsonian (219592) on 10 April 1919 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia; launched on 5 May 1920; accepted by the USSB on 13 May 1920; transferred to the Navy on 29 October 1921; renamed Salinas and designated AO-19 on 3 November 1921; and commissioned at Mobile, Ala., on 16 December 1921.
Fleetco, a Patoka Replenishment oiler built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, for the United States Shipping Board, was launched on 21 April 1920; transferred to the Navy by Executive Order on 17 October 1921; renamed USS Sepulga (AO-20) on 2 November 1921; delivered to the Navy at Mare Island, California, on 13 December 1921.
USS Tippecanoe (AO-21) was a Patoka Replenishment oiler of the United States Navy.
The Cimarron-class oilers were an underway replenishment class of oil tankers which were first built in 1939 as "National Defense Tankers," United States Maritime Commission Type T3-S2-A1, designed "to conform to the approved characteristics for naval auxiliaries in speed, radius and structural strength", anticipating their militarization in the event of war. "Tentative plans had been reached with the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to build ten high-speed tankers with the government paying the cost of the larger engines needed for increased speed. By the first week in December [1937], Standard Oil had solicited and received bids from a number of yards providing for the construction of a number of 16,300-ton (deadweight) capacity tankers. Bids were requested for two versions: a single-screw design of 13 knots and a twin-screw design of 18 knots. The price difference between the two would be used to establish the government's cost subsidy for greater speed. Plans and specifications for both designs were prepared for Standard Oil by naval architect E. L. Stewart. It seems certain that the design for the 18-knot tanker evolved out of the bureau's (C&R) design for a fleet oiler."
USS Conecuh (AOR-110) was a fleet replenishment tanker, originally built by F. Schichau, Danzig, in 1938 as a combination oiler and supply vessel or "Troßschiff" for the Kriegsmarine and christened as Dithmarschen. Taken over by British authorities at Bremerhaven when World War II ended, Dithmarschen was allocated to the United States Navy on 15 January 1946 by the Inter-Allied Reparations Commission.
USS Millicoma (AO-73) was a United States Navy fleet oiler which served in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, winning eight battle stars for her dangerous work. Post-war she was recommissioned and was placed under the control of the MSTS with a civilian crew until finally assigned for disposal in 1987.
The Chiwawa-class oilers were United States Navy T3 Tanker oilers of the T3-S-A1 design built during World War II at Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard of Sparrows Point, Maryland. The class consisted of five ships, all of which survived the war.
USS Tamalpais (AO-96) was a Escambia-class replenishment oiler acquired by the United States Navy for use during World War II. She had the dangerous but necessary task of providing fuel to vessels in combat and non-combat areas. She served in the Pacific Ocean Theatre of operations late in the war.
The Sacramento-class fast combat support ships were a class of four United States Navy supply ships used to refuel, rearm, and restock ships in the United States Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
USS Tippecanoe may refer to the following ships operated by the United States:
The Cimarron class was a class of five replenishment oilers which served in the United States Navy between 1981 and 1999. These ships were sized to provide two complete refuelings of a fossil-fueled aircraft carrier and six to eight accompanying destroyers. All five of the class were jumboized in 1990-92 by being cut in two and a 108-foot section inserted, increasing their capacities from 120,000 bbls to 180,000 bbls, adding capacity for 300 tons of munitions and improving underway replenishment capabilities. The class was retired in 1998-99 after less than 20 years of service as a result of post-Cold War force reductions, and the advent of the more economical diesel-powered Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oilers.
The Kennebec-class oilers were sixteen United States Navy medium oilers built during World War II to three related designs at Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard of Sparrows Point, Maryland and Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. of Chester, Pennsylvania, all of which survived the war. One is still in commercial service as of 2022.
The T3 tanker, or T3, are a class of seaworthy large tanker ships produced in the United States and used to transport fuel oil, gasoline or diesel before and during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The T3 tanker classification is still used today. The T3 tanker has a full load displacement of about 24,830 tons.
