The Type 704 ''Rhön''-class tankers are a series of

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 ...

s used by the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

to provide

underway replenishment Replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) or underway replenishment (UNREP) (U.S. Navy) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First develope ...

for its ships at sea. The two vessels in the class, and , were originally constructed for Libya by Kröger Shipyard in

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

as bulk acid carriers. They were acquired by the

West German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

in 1976 for conversion and entered service in 1977. The two ships are crewed by civilians. In 2019 it was announced by the German Navy that the ships are planned to be replaced in 2024.

Design and description

The Type 704 replenishment ships, originally constructed as civilian

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

, have a

full load displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and were measured at and . They are long with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . They have capacity for of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

and of water. The ''Rhön'' class are powered by one

MaK Mak may refer to: People *Mak Dizdar (1917 - 1971), Bosnian poet *Muhammad Arshad Khan, Pakistani painter popularly known as "MAK" *Alan Mak (director) (born 1968), Hong Kong film director *Alan Mak (politician) (born 1984), British Member of Par ...

12-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

turning one shaft with a

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can also ...

, rated at . This gives the vessels in the class a maximum speed of and a range of at . The ships are civilian crewed and have a complement of 42. The ships have two positions for portable

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

Ship list

Service history

Two bulk acid tankers were ordered by Libya as ''Okene'' and ''Okapi'' from Kröger at their yard in

. ''Okene'' was launched on 23 August 1974 and ''Okapi'' on 13 February 1975. While still under construction, the two ships were acquired by the

in 1976 for conversion to naval replenishment tankers. ''Okene'' was converted by Kröger and was renamed ''Rhön'' for a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in Germany. ''Okapi'' was taken to

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

for conversion and renamed ''Spessart'', also a

in Germany. Both ships entered service in 1977. On 1 April 2009,

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

operating off the Somalian coast mistook ''Spessart'' as a commercial tanker and opened fire on it before attempting to board the ship. The attack was repelled and the pirates were chased by several naval ships, eventually being captured by a Greek frigate. The pirates were handed over to the to be prosecuted. In July 2018, it was announced that both vessels of the class were laid up due to heavy maintenance required to get them back into service and that ''Spessart''s engine would require a complete overhaul.

New replenishment oilers

The outdated tankers were planned to be replaced. The

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

approved money for this in 2021. The Federal Ministry of Defence made numerous mistakes in awarding the contract. The ministry did not put the contract out to tender throughout Europe, but only within Germany. Neighbouring countries such as Norway and Great Britain bought comparable ships for a fraction of the German price. The ministry justified this with strategic reasons. The contract for the construction of two new tankers was awarded to the Lürssen Shipyard (Naval Vessels Lürssen NVL), Bremen in July 2021. At that point, it was already clear that the price demanded by NVL was too expensive. In order to reduce costs, the Bundeswehr accepted poorer technical equipment for the ships: no second

drive shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power (physics), power and torque and rotation, usually ...

was installed and the capacity of the tankers was reduced. The ships were at least 250 million Euros too expensive.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhon Class Tanker Auxiliary replenishment ship classes Oil tankers Tankers of Germany Auxiliary ships of the German Navy