THE NAVY’S DEVELOPMENTS IN VERTICAL REPLENISHMENT

[Music] [Music] so [Music] the united states navy maintains thousands of men and many ships and planes continually on station around the world to keep these forces on station and at peak operating efficiency requires regularly scheduled replenishment of the fuel food and other expendables they require millions of gallons of fuel are needed huge quantities of jet fuel aircraft and ship engine parts millions of pounds of meat potatoes fruits and vegetables clothing and ammunition and missiles [Music] replenishment a tremendous never-ending job is the function of the service force a collection of underway replenishment ships including oilers ammunition ships supply and provision ships this force is in effect a mobile fuel station grocery store department store and ammunition depot keeping the deployed ships of the fleet supplied with fuel food clothing ordinance general and technical supplies and repair parts alongside methods of refueling and replenishment using high line transfer developed during world war ii and the korean conflict made it possible for ships to remain away from home bases for long periods of time prior to this replenishment was accomplished at anchor or with ships tied up alongside docks this method was laborious and time consuming of great concern was the fact also that ships vitally needed at sea were unavailable for extended periods the navy faced with the ever increasing problem of resupplying ships far from home bases operating on around the clock schedule worked to perfect the underway replenishment concept even further it began searching for a means of replenishment to supplement the alongside method a means by which ships might be replenished at sea without being in physical contact possibly without being within sight of each other in 1958 the service forces began experimental research on a revolutionary new supply concept vertical replenishment transfer of cargo by helicopter the uss altair fitted with a new experimental helicopter landing platform was deployed to the sixth fleet for initial vertical replenishment exercises the new system of replenishment was ready to be introduced in logistics underway replenishment operations from the start of the operation it was apparent that vertical replenishment could become a valuable tool in the mobile logistics concept it offered great flexibility and in certain instances boosted the amount of materials that could be transferred in a given length of time by the underway replenishment group it was found possible also to replenish destroyers without pulling them from their screen positions should the tactical situation [Music] the demand of the altair operations pointed up vertical replenishment's potential the navy scheduled additional tests to measure other capabilities one of these was the evaluation of heat helicopter extended area platform installed on the uss regal this platform essentially a cantilever beam extending 25 feet over the side has a topic a cart which carries supplies to the end of the beam for helicopter thicken its principal advantage lies in its relatively low cost concurrently with this test commander service forces atlantic fleet began a major program in converting its afs with helicopter platforms the technical assistance of the bureau of ships and the bureau of supplies and accounts played a major role in these conversions these converted ships exercised with this capability in their periodic deployment with the sixth fleet [Music] a typical vertical replenishment exercise begins at norfolk with the loading of supplies aboard an af once loaded the supply ship gets underway for its eventual rendezvous with other service force units in this case a part of the navy's sixth fleet operating in the mediterranean the sixth fleet in operation on high seas is not dependent on oversea land bases instead navy supply ships ply the atlantic carrying the thousands of tons of supplies such a huge fleet requires the supplies needed to keep the fleet at sea are carried by the ships of the service force every 30 days the underway replenishment group makes a rendezvous with the combatant units of the fleet supplies are brought up from the ship's hole to the main deck for alongside and vertical replenishment operations new equipment and materials handling systems on servlant ships developed by the research facility at bay all new jersey has been installed to support the type of operation vertical replenishment demands on the regal a motorized belt conveyor carries the supplies from the main deck to the helicopter deck on the helicopter deck the supplies are placed on pallets weighed and netted [Music] attachable vinyl or nylon webbing net slings and webbing panels have been developed and are being evaluated other features of the new nets include easy adaptability and tensioning for load restraint during transfer from the staging area pallet trucks move the supplies to the helicopter pickup area a new lightweight pendant easily hooked by one man is now in use it permits attachment to the helicopter hook at a safe distance it has proven to be particularly useful on destroyers or pickup and return of anti-talents and nets vertical replenishment has proven to be a valuable supplement to the alongside method of replenishing in combat its value would be even more apparent the navy now has under construction two new types of underway replenishment ships to join the fleet in 1964. one an aoe fast combat fuel and ammunition support ship will have the landing and service facilities for three helicopters this capability supplements are new alongside methods of replenishment utilizing fast automatic shuttle transfer the other new ship an afs combat storage ship will have facilities for a two helicopter operation in conjunction with the high capacity to transfer alongside larger helicopters twin turbine types are part of the navy's plan for the immediate future these will have nearly three times the load carrying capability of the type now in use the bureau of supplies and accounts research program is continuing proposals were made for experimental multiple helicopter deliveries simulating those planned for these new ships the exercises with commander service forces atlantic fleet were conducted off the virginia capes by the regal in may 1963 these tests reveal the potentials of volume deliveries and the problem areas these exercises also included testing the transferring of missiles by helicopter and testing support equipment missile transfer by helicopter shows promise the many problems encountered are being studied by the bureau of ships and the bureau of weapons since the original experiments in 1958 many technological improvements have been made in vertical replenishment valuable lessons have been learned helicopter platforms have been installed on many af ships missile transfer has been tried and experienced gain facts are now known which will aid in plans to make it more practical studies in this subject are being conducted by the naval weapons handling laboratory earl new jersey innovations and improvements in vertical replenishment handling equipment has significantly increased safety efficiency and reduced the time and manpower required to get the job done vertical replenishment represents a technological breakthrough in the navy's mobile logistics support concept projecting the data available today it is theoretically possible that the new afs with dual helicopter operations could vertically replenish two destroyers at the range of two thousand yards in thirty minutes complementing the new fast alongside method of replenishment this new concept provides a valuable adjunct to mobile logistics support these important breakthroughs are now being incorporated in plans for ships of the future they will provide the type of fleet supply system needed in tomorrow's nuclear navy [Music] you