Ammunition ship

USNS Kilauea (T-AE 26), a typical contemporary ammunition ship

An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for Navy ships and aircraft. Their cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks between decks, and mechanisms for flooding entire compartments with sea water in case of emergencies. They most often deliver their cargo to other ships using underway replenishment, using both connected replenishment and vertical replenishment. To a lesser extent, they transport ammunition from one shore-based weapons station to another.^[1]

United States Navy ammunition ships

U.S. Navy ammunition ships are frequently named for volcanos.^[2]

During World War II, U.S. Navy ammunition ships were converted from merchant ships or specially built on merchant ship hulls, often of type C2. They were armed, and were manned by Navy crews. Several of them were destroyed in spectacular explosions during the war, such as USS Mount Hood, which exploded in the Admiralty Islands on November 10, 1944, and the Liberty Ship SS John Burke, which was hit by a single Kamikaze attack near the Philippines on December 28, 1944 and which was captured on amateur film by a photographer on a nearby vessel.^[3] The ship disintegrated in seconds with the loss of all hands.

Contemporary U.S. ammunition ships of the Kilauea class are specially designed for their mission, which also includes carrying dry and refrigerated cargo. They are unarmed and are manned by civilian crews. These ships are being replaced by the Lewis and Clark class dry cargo ships.^[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ammunition ships.

Notes

↑ "AE Ammunition Ships". GlobalSecurity.org. Archived from the original on 15 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
↑ Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS), Naval Vessel Register, Ammunition Ships. Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMs4IJQVRYM
↑ "Lewis & Clark Class Auxiliary Cargo and Ammunition Ship (T-AKE)". Joint Interoperability Test Command web site. Retrieved 2008-08-18.

Bibliography

Naval ships and warships in the Late Modern period

Naval ship classes in service submarine auxiliary Operational zones Blue-water navy Brown-water navy Green-water navy Gun placement Broadside Central battery/casemate Turretes

Aircraft carriers	Aircraft cruiser Amphibious assault ship Anti-submarine warfare carrier Balloon carrier CAM ship Escort carrier Fighter catapult ship Fleet carrier Helicopter carrier Light aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carrier Seaplane tender Submarine aircraft carrier Supercarrier

Battleships	Coastal defence ship Dreadnought Fast battleship Pre-dreadnought battleship Super-dreadnought (Standard-type battleship) Treaty battleship

Cruisers	Armored cruiser Battlecruiser Flight deck cruiser Heavy cruiser Pocket battleship Light cruiser Merchant raider Protected cruiser Strike cruiser Torpedo cruiser Unprotected cruiser

Escort	Aviso Convoy rescue ship Destroyer Destroyer escort Destroyer leader Escort destroyer Frigate Guided missile destroyer Kaibōkan Sloop

Transport	Amphibious transport dock Amphibious warfare ship Attack transport Dock landing ship Landing craft Landing craft carrier Landing Craft Support Landing Ship Heavy Landing ship, infantry Landing Ship Medium Landing Ship, Tank Landing Ship Vehicle Troopship

Patrol craft	Armed boarding steamer Armed yacht Coastal Motor Boat Corvette Gunboat Harbour Defence Motor Launch Motor Launch Naval drifter Naval trawler Ocean boarding vessel Patrol boat Q-ship Steam Gun Boat Submarine chaser Torpedo boat

Fast attack craft	E-boat MAS MGB Missile boat MTB MTM MTSM PT boat Shin'yō

Mine warfare	Danlayer Destroyer minesweeper Mine countermeasures vessel Mine planter Minehunter Minelayer Minesweeper

Command and support	Amenities ship Ammunition ship Auxiliary repair dock Auxiliary ship Collier Combat stores ship Command ship Crane vessel Depot ship Destroyer tender Dispatch boat Fast combat support ship General stores issue ship Hospital ship Naval tugboat Net laying ship Repair ship Replenishment oiler Submarine tender

Submarines	Attack submarine Ballistic missile submarine Coastal submarine Cruise missile submarine Cruiser submarine Deep-submergence vehicle DSRV Fleet submarine Midget submarine U-boat

Miscellaneous	Arsenal ship Barracks ship Breastwork monitor Capital ship Flagship Guard ship Littoral combat ship Monitor River monitor Training ship

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