The fast combat support ship (

US Navy hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

: AOE) is the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

'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 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 m ...

. They can carry more than 177,000 barrels of oil, 2,150 tons of ammunition, 500 tons of dry stores and 250 tons of refrigerated stores. It receives petroleum products, ammunition and stores from various shuttle ships and redistributes these items when needed to ships in the

carrier battle group A carrier battle group (CVBG) is a naval fleet consisting of an aircraft carrier capital ship and its large number of escorts, together defining the group. The ''CV'' in ''CVBG'' is the United States Navy hull classification code for an airc ...

. This greatly reduces the number of service ships needed to travel with carrier battle groups. The four ships of the were 53,000 tons at full load, 796 feet overall length, and carried two

Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Development of th ...

helicopters. The ''Sacramento'' class was retired in 2005. The ships displace 48,800 tons full load and carried two

helicopters or two Sikorsky

MH-60S Knighthawk The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...

helicopters. Air defense includes the Sea Sparrow radar and infrared surface-to-air missile in eight-cell launchers to provide point defence with 15km to 25km range. There are also two Phalanx mk15 20mm gatling gun close-in weapon systems (CIWS) and two 25mm Raytheon mk88 guns. China has developed the

Type 901 fast combat support ship The Type 901 (NATO reporting name: ''Fuyu''-class, also known as ''Hulunhu''-class) is a class of fast combat support ship of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. Design The Type 901 is estimated to have a 45,000 ton displacement and a b ...

which serves a similar mission in their navy.

List of Fast Combat Support Ships

* (AOE-1) USS Sacramento * (AOE-2) USS Camden * (AOE-3) USS Seattle * (AOE-4) USS Detroit * (AOE-6) USS Supply (New Class) * (AOE-7) USS Rainier * (AOE-8) USS Arctic * (AOE-10) USS Bridge

References

AOE class at Naval TechnologyAOE class at US Navy Military Sealift CommandUS Navy Military Sealift Command front page

List of Fast Combat Support Ships

References

See also