''Wichita''-class replenishment oilers comprised a
class
Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...
of seven
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.
Th ...
s used by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The ships were designed for rapid
underway replenishment
Underway replenishment (UNREP) (United States Navy, U.S. Navy) or replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while unde ...
using both connected replenishment and vertical replenishment.
Design
The original concept for the ''Wichita''-class was that the ships would serve the same function for the anti-submarine carrier (CVS) groups that the larger, faster
''Sacramento''-class ships did for the attack carrier (CVA) groups. During this time the ships were
commissioned naval auxiliaries with the
hull classification AOR.
The ships could carry 160,000 barrels (25,438,000 litres) of fuel oil (DFM) and/or jet fuel (JP5), 600 tons of munitions, 200 tons of dry stores and 100 tons of refrigerated stores. To transfer cargo, the ships were equipped with four fueling stations and two cargo handling stations on the port side and three fueling stations and two cargo handling stations on the starboard side. As built the port forward fuel station and associated tanks were for aviation gasoline (AVGAS), but were converted after the retirement of the Navy's last piston-engined aircraft. Originally, the first six ships only had a large helicopter landing deck aft, but no hangar. was the first ship equipped with a large double hangar for two
UH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. The hangar was later retrofitted to the other ships.
With the addition of the hangar, the ships lost the originally fitted
3"/50 caliber gun
The 3-inch/50-caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 Caliber (artillery), calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). ...
twin mounts that were located abaft the stack. In the 1980s, a Mk 29 launcher for the
NATO Sea Sparrow was fitted atop the hangar, and two
Phalanx CIWS
The Phalanx CIWS () is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Co ...
were added.
General Dynamics, Quincy originally encountered problems during the construction, before the production was rationalised. took 24 months from keel laying to launch, 21 month, and only 14 months.
[, p. 464-651]
With the reduction in the U.S. Navy fleet, these ships were all decommissioned and stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
(NVR) in the 1990s.
Ships in class
Traditionally Navy oilers have been named for rivers; the ''Wichita'' class were named for city/river pairs with Native American names.
References
External links
NavSource Photo Archives: Replenishment Fleet Tanker (AOR) Index*
{{Wichita class replenishment oiler
Auxiliary replenishment ship classes
Wichita class replenishment oiler