Ship's company of HMAS Stalwart celebrate their 50th Replenishment at Sea since commissioning, while conducting a Replenishment at Sea with JS Izumo off the North Queensland coast.
Oiler replenishment ships
Naval oiler replenishment ships are faster than most commercial tankers, can refuel ships at sea (while underway, often at speed), usually carry a helicopter and dry stores, and may have medical facilities. The RAN currently has two auxiliary oiler replenishment ships, HMA Ships Supply (II) and Stalwart (III). They carry fuel, dry cargo, fresh water, food, ammunition, equipment and spare parts to enable RAN ships and combat forces to operate in theatre for longer periods.
Combat logistics ships
HMAS Success (II) was a combat logistics ship that gave the RAN an underway replenishment capability for bulk and dry goods—sometimes via the helicopter carried aboard.
A sub-category of the combat logistic ship is the fast combat support ship or, as HMAS Jervis Bay (II) was known, ‘fast sealift catamaran’. Capable of 48 knots, Jervis Bay could carry up to 500 fully equipped troops and their vehicles. The ship provided vital and quick logistics support to Australian forces during operation INTERFET in East Timor, 1999 to 2000.
Maintenance tenders
Maintenance tenders such as HMAS Stalwart (II), which was designated a ‘destroyer tender’, are mobile bases with engineering, electrical, weapons and shipwright workshops. Stalwart could produce fresh water, steam and electricity for other ships. Equipped with cranes, heavy-duty lifts, a range of small boats, and a flight deck for helicopters, Stalwart was fully air-conditioned, offered high-standard accommodation facilities, an operating theatre and two hospital wards, a chapel, classroom, laundry and gymnasium.