Sacramento-class fast combat support ship

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 Camden (AOE-2)
Class overview
Name:	Sacramento
Builders:	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, New York Shipbuilding
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	N/A
Succeeded by:	Supply-class fast combat support ship
In commission:	1964–2005
Completed:	4
Retired:	4
General characteristics
Type:	fast combat support ship
Displacement:	53,000 tons
Length:	795 feet (242.3 m) (overall)
Beam:	107 feet (32.6 m) (extreme)
Draft:	39 feet (11.9 m)
Propulsion:	4 boilers producing 600 psi (4,100 kPa) at 856 degrees Fahrenheit; super-heated steam driving 2 × turbines, producing 100,000 horsepower (75 MW) at 4,829 rpm
Speed:	26 knots
Complement:	24 officers, 576 enlisted
Armament:	NATO Sea Sparrow missiles 2 × Phalanx close-in weapons systems
Aircraft carried:	CH-46E Sea Knight

History

The idea of combining the capabilities of a fleet oiler (AO), ammunition ship (AE), and refrigerated stores ship (AF) had been conceived during the Second World War by Admiral Arleigh Burke, later Chief of Naval Operations, who sought to create a single ship that would perform the functions of three vessels while simultaneously integrating into a carrier battle group. This was deemed necessary because World War II replenishments had to be scheduled well in advance due to communications problems and were subject to change due to weather or combat related reasons. On top of that the Underway Replenishment Groups of that time were slow and unwieldy. After experimenting with this "replenishment oiler" concept with the German war prize Dithmarschen (placed in service as USS Conecuh (AOR-110)), the US Navy's solution to these problems was to create a multi-product station ship, which resulted in the construction of the Sacramento class. The Sacramentos had been designed to carry more fuel and ammunition than the largest ammunition ships then in service with the US Navy. The AOEs were also designed to be much faster than previous auxiliaries at 26 knots, giving them the ability to operate in company with a carrier battle group rather than in a separate, slower replenishment group. The first two ships each received one-half of the powerplants removed from the unfinished Iowa-class battleship Kentucky, while the remaining two received new construction machinery. All four had General Electric turbines.

To fulfill the same role in the less demanding Anti-Submarine Support Aircraft Carrier (CVS) groups, the navy built the similar, but smaller and slower, Wichita-class AORs.

Construction of the unnamed AOE-5 was cancelled in 1968.[1] There are no Sacramento-class ships in service with the Navy, the last one being retired in 2005.

The ships that now fulfill this role for the U.S. Navy are the Supply-class fast combat support ships. Those ships are not commissioned ships of the Navy; rather they are operated by the Military Sealift Command.

Ships

Ship	Hull No.	Builder	Commissioning– Decommissioning	NVR Page
USS Sacramento	AOE-1	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard	1964–2004	AOE1
USS Camden	AOE-2	New York Shipbuilding	1967–2005	AOE2
USS Seattle	AOE-3	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard	1969–2005	AOE3
USS Detroit	AOE-4	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard	1970–2005	AOE4

Notes

1. "AOE-1 Sacramento Fast Combat Support Ship". Federation of American Scientists. March 5, 1999. Retrieved 2008-03-02.

External links

• Federation of American Scientists: AOE-1 Sacramento Fast Combat Support Ship