A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports .
Development
Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of food, fuel,
, and other supplies, or a full array of maintenance equipment and personnel. The tender carries all these, and either meets submarines at sea to replenish them or provides these services while docked at a port near the submarines' operations zone. In some navies, the tenders were equipped with
for maintenance, and as floating dormitories with relief
.
With the increased size and automation of modern submarines, plus in some navies the introduction of nuclear power, tenders are no longer as necessary for fuel as they once were.
Canada
Canada's first submarine depot ship was .
Chile
The term used in the
Chilean Navy is "submarine mother ship", as for example the BMS (buque madre de submarinos)
Almirante Merino.
China
China's Type 926 submarine support ship is capable of replenishing submarines and rescuing those in distress.
France
During the 1930s and World War II, the
French Navy and later the Free French Naval Forces operated the submarine tender .
Germany
Unable to operate a significant number of conventional surface tenders during World War II,
Nazi Germany's
Kriegsmarine used Type XIV submarines (nicknamed
milk cows) for replenishment at sea.
Japan
Prior to and during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy operated submarine tenders. It also operated , a
seaplane tender designed and equipped to transport and support 12
in addition to
, and a number of submarines designed to transport, launch, and recover midget submarines.
The Netherlands
The Royal Netherlands Navy has one submarine support vessel, , commissioned in 1987, as a replacement of , then known as HNLMS Mercuur (A 856). Commissioned in 1956, as an ocean going Aggressive-class minesweeper, built in the US, and later used as a submarine tender.
Russia
The
Russian Navy decommissioned all its Don and Ugra-class tenders inherited from the
Soviet Navy by 2001. The last remaining ship of this class was , initially sold to the
Indian Navy in 1968 for use with their fleet of s. She was reportedly decommissioned in July 2006.
United Kingdom
In the
Royal Navy, the term used for a submarine tender is "submarine depot ship", for example and .
List of Royal Navy submarine depot ships
United States
In the United States Navy, submarine tenders are considered
, with the hull classification symbol "AS". , the U.S. Navy maintains two submarine tenders, and .
See also
-
Submarine rescue ship – similar ship meant for rescue and salvage of submarines
External links
