Depot ship

A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing and relaxation. Depot ships may be identified as tenders in American English. Depot ships may be specifically designed for their purpose or be converted from another purpose.

Function

Depot ships provide services unavailable from local naval base shore facilities. Industrialized countries may build naval bases with extensive workshops, warehouses, barracks, and medical and recreation facilities. Depot ships operating within such bases may provide little more than command staff offices,Lenton (1975) pp.391-394 while depot ships operating at remote bases may perform unusually diverse support functions. Some United States Navy submarine depot ships operating in the Pacific during World War II included sailors with Construction Battalion ratings to clear recreational sites and assemble buildings ashore, while the Royal Navy mobile naval bases included specialized amenities ships to meet recreational needs of British Pacific Fleet personnel.

Services provided by a depot ship depend upon whether typical client warship missions are measured in hours, or days, or weeks. A warship crew may be expected to remain at their stations for missions measured in hours, but longer missions may require provisions for dining, sleeping, and personal hygiene. The crew of small warships may carry individual combat rations and urinate or defecate from the weather deck. Longer missions typically require storage provisions for drinking water and preserved food, and some resting area for the crew, although rest may be limited to a sheltered spot to sit or recline. Cooking may be limited to warming food on an exhaust vent, and buckets may be used for bathing, laundry, and sanitary waste. Habitability standards vary among navies, but client warships large enough to include a head, bunks, a shower, a kitchen stove, refrigerated food storage, a drinking water distillation unit, and a laundry require little more than medical and repair service from a depot ship. Depot ships are similar to repair ships, but provide a wider range of services to a smaller portion of the fleet. Depot ships undertake repair work for a flotilla of small warships, while repair ships offer more comprehensive repair capability for a larger variety of fleet warships. Depot ships also provide personnel and resupply services for their flotilla. Some depot ships may transport their short-range landing or attack craft from home ports to launch near the scene of battle. The following summary of World War II depot ships indicates the range of locations and warships served:

Boom defence depot ships

HMS ''St. Columba'' was the depot ship for the boom defence vessels at Greenock. The survey ship HMS ''Endeavour'' (J61) served as a depot ship for boom defence in Singapore and the Mediterranean Sea.Lenton & Colledge, pp.341-348

Coastal forces depot ships

Requisitioned merchant ships HMS ''Aberdonian'' (F74) and ''Vienna'' (F138) and the French ''Belfort'' (U63) were used as depot ships for Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy. ''Aberdonian'' started at Fort William, Scotland, but spent most of the war at Dartmouth, Devon, while ''Vienna'' was in the Mediterranean. The Loch-class frigates ''Loch Assynt'' (K438) and ''Loch Torridon'' (K654) became coastal forces depot ships HMS ''Derby Haven'' and ''Woodbridge Haven'', respectively.

Destroyer depot ships

* served in the Pacific after conversion from a repair ship in 1944.Silverstone, p.285
* served in the Atlantic.Silverstone, p.283
* was with the Asiatic Fleet in 1941 and transferred to Alaska for the remainder of the war.
* HMS ''Blenheim'' served with the Home Fleet, at Iceland, and in the Mediterranean.
*
* served in the Atlantic.
* served in the Pacific.
* served in the Pacific.
* HMS ''Greenwich'' (F10) served in Scapa Flow, Canada, Iceland, and with the Home Fleet.Lenton & Colledge, p.336
*
* HMS ''Hecla'' (F20) was based at Greenock and Iceland before being sunk in the Mediterranean during Operation Torch.Lenton & Colledge, p.338
*
* served in the Atlantic.
* HMS ''Philoctetes'' (F134) was stationed at Freetown.
* served in the Pacific.
* served in the Pacific.
* served in the Pacific.
*
* HMS ''Tyne'' (F24) served with the Home Fleet and British Pacific Fleet.
* was a repair ship before being converted to a Home Fleet destroyer depot ship in 1945.
* served in the Pacific.
* served in home waters, the Mediterranean, and the East Indies.
* served in the Pacific.

Escort vessel depot ship

HMS ''Sandhurst'' (F92) was a converted merchant ship used as a depot ship for coastal convoy escorts at Dover, Derry and Greenock.

Landing craft depot ships

The first landing craft carrier was completed by Japan in 1935. The United States Navy began launching dock landing ships in 1943. The 8,580-ton ''Beachy Head''-class ships HMS ''Buchan Ness'', ''Dodman Point'', ''Dungeness'', ''Fife Ness'', ''Girdle Ness'' and ''Spurn Point'' were used as depot ships for Ramped Cargo Lighters during the last year of World War II.

Minesweeper depot ships

''Nettlebeck'', ''Brommy'' and ''Van der Groeben'' were depot ships for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd R boat flotillas, respectively. The 1st and 3rd flotillas were at Kiel, and the 2nd was at Cuxhaven. HMS ''Ambitious'' (F169), ''Celebrity'' and ''St. Tudno'' served as depot ships for minesweepers. ''Ambitious'' was stationed at Scapa Flow, and ''St. Tudno'' was at the Nore. Japan requisitioned ''Chohei Maru'', ''Rokusan Maru'' and ''Teishu Maru'' from civilian service as depot ships for minesweepers.Watts, p.322

Motor torpedo boat depot ships

''Tsingtau'' and ''Tanga'' were depot ships for the 1st and 2nd E-boat flotillas at Kiel and Hamburg, respectively. ''Kamikaze Maru'', ''Nihonkai Maru'', ''Shinsho Maru'' and ''Shuri Maru'' were requisitioned from civilian service as depot ships for Japanese Motor Torpedo Boats.

Patrol vessel depot ships

and the French ships ''Courbet'', ''Paris'', ''Coucy'' and ''Diligente'' were used as depot ships for vessels patrolling the English Channel after the Second Armistice at Compiègne. HMS ''Brilliant'' was based at Lerwick, Shetland Islands, in July 1917 as a depot ship for trawlers and patrol boats. HMS ''Ambitious'' was a depot ship at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands during the First World War.

Seaplane depot ship

Includes both seaplane carriers and ships intended to support the operation of large flying boats, known as seaplane tenders in United States usage.

Submarine depot ships

* served in the Pacific.Silverstone, p.288
* served with the Eastern Fleet and British Pacific Fleet.
* HMS ''Alecto'' (J10) served at Portsmouth and became the boom defense depot ship.Lenton & Colledge, p.334
* HMS ''Ambrose'' served as depot ship for the Fourth Flotilla, 1919 to 1928.
* was converted to a troopship.
* was stationed at Subic Bay in 1945.Blair, p.821
* served in the Pacific.
* ''Wilhelm Bauer'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for the 7th U-boat Flotilla.
* was depot ship for Squadron 50 at Rosneath before transfer to Alaska.Silverstone, p.287
* ''Bogata Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for the Monsun Gruppe.
* was the depot ship for X craft.
* was depot ship for Squadron 12 at Fremantle and Majuro.
* was lost serving as the Asiatic Fleet depot ship.
* HIJMS ''Chōgei'' was depot ship for Subron 6.
* served in the Pacific.
*
* HMS ''Cyclops'' (F31) served first in the Mediterranean, and then with the Home Fleet.
* ''Donau'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for the 1st U-boat Flotilla.
* was stationed in New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands.
* was depot ship for the 2nd and 3rd submarine flotillas.
* was depot ship for Squadron 8 in Pearl Harbor, Midway Atoll, Brisbane, New Guinea, Saipan and Subic Bay.
* was stationed at Subic Bay in 1945.
* was stationed in Newfoundland in late 1941 before serving in Brisbane and then in Pearl Harbor and Fremantle as depot ship for Squadron 12.
* ''Heian Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 1.
* ''Hie Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 8.
* was depot ship for Squadron 2 with the Asiatic Fleet before moving to Australia, Saipan and Guam.
* ''Isar'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for the 6th U-boat flotilla.
* HIJMS ''Jingei'' was depot ship for Subron7.
* The 5,747-ton French ''Jules Verne'' was initially stationed at Oran and later at Madagascar.
* ''Waldemar Kophamel'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for U-boat flotillas.
* ''Lech'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for the 5th U-boat Flotilla.
* HMS ''Lucia'' (F27) served in the Indian Ocean and was the Red Sea force base ship in 1940.
* served at Rosyth and in the South Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.
* served in China and the Mediterranean.
* served with the British Pacific Fleet.
* ''Nagoya Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 4.
* was stationed at Fremantle and New Guinea.
* was under conversion from civilian service at Manila when Japan attacked and became a landing craft depot ship at Fremantle.
* ''Antonio Pacinotti'' was a ''Regia Marina'' submarine depot ship.Kafka & Pepperburg, p.806
* was depot ship for Squadron 6 at the attack on Pearl Harbor and in Fremantle.
* HNLMS ''Pelikaan'' was stationed in the Dutch East Indies.
* was depot ship for Squadron 20 in Tokyo Bay for the Surrender of Japan.
* ''Rio de Janeiro Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 5.
* ''Saar'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for the 2nd U-boat Flotilla.
* ''Santos Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 2.
* HMS ''Talbot'' was the Malta submarine depot ship.
* was depot ship for Squadron 10 at Brisbane, Pearl Harbor, Majuro and Guam.Blair, pp.225,344,346,533&766
* HMS ''Titania'' (F32) was the depot ship for Welman submarines.
* ''Tsukushi Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 11.
* ''Alessandro Volta'' was a ''Regia Marina'' submarine depot ship.
* ''Erwin Wassner'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for U-boat flotillas.
* ''Weichsel'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for the 3rd U-boat Flotilla.
* was the Royal Australian Navy submarine depot ship.
* HMS ''Wolfe'' (F37) was depot ship for the 3rd submarine flotilla until transferred to the Eastern Fleet in 1944.
* HMS ''Wuchang'' (F30) served with the Eastern Fleet.
* ''Otto Wunsche'' provided command facilities and submarine crew accommodations for U-boat flotillas.
* ''Yasukuni Maru'' was requisitioned from civilian service as depot ship for Subron 3.

Regulations

Some depot ships support a naval base. was the base ship at Darwin, Australia during World War II. In the Royal Navy, under section 87 of the Naval Discipline Act 1866, the provisions of the act only applied to officers and men of the Royal Navy borne on the books of a warship. When shore establishments began to become more common it was necessary to allocate the title of the establishment to an actual vessel which became the ''nominal depot ship'' for the men allocated to the establishment and thus ensured they were subject to the provisions of the Act.

See also

* Stone frigate, a shore establishment listed as a ship for the purposes of naval organization.

Citations

Sources

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{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries

Ship types
Naval installations