NAVY  FACT FILE

MISSION:
The fast combat support ship (AOE) receives petroleum
products, ammunition and stores from shuttle ships and
redistributes these items simultaneously to carrier battle groups
using both connected replenishment and vertical replenishment.  The
AOE operates as an integral unit of the carrier battle group.  It
serves as a fuel/ammo reservoir delivering customer configured
loads. Its simultaneous multi-product delivery reduces the
vulnerability of individual ships by minimizing alongside time. 

COMMENTARY:
 The largest combat logistics ship is a multi-product
station ship or AOE. The AOE has the speed and armament to remain
with the carrier battle groups. The AOE provides rapid
replenishment to Navy task forces and can carry more than 177,000
barrels of oil, 2,150 tons on ammunition, 500 tons of dry stores,
and 250 tons of refrigerated stores.

In the 1987 budget, Congress appropriated the funds for the lead
ship of the AOE 6 class. The Navy awarded a fixed-price- incentive
contract for detail design and construction of AOE 6 to National
Steel and Shipbuilding Company in 1987. The contract includes
options for three additional ships. The contract delivery date of
AOE 6 is April 1991. The Navy plans to provide a multi-product
station ship for every carrier battle group.

SACRAMENTO CLASS (AOE-1)
 Displacement:   Approximately 53,000 tons full load
 Length:    793 feet
 Beam:      107 feet
 Speed:     26 knots






USS SACRAMENTO (AOE-1)
Power Plant:    Four boilers, geared turbines, two shafts,
100,000 shaft horsepower
Aircraft:  Two CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
Armament:  NATO Sea Sparrow missiles; two Phalanx close-in
weapons systems to be fitted
Complement:     615
Builders:  AOEs 1, 3, 4, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; 2,
New York Shipbuilding

Units
USS Sacramento (AOE-1);Bremerton, Wash.
USS Camden (AOE-2); Bremerton, Wash.
USS Seattle (AOE-3); Norfolk, Va.
USS Detroit (AOE-4); Norfolk, Va.

Department of the Navy (OP-03PA); Washington, DC
20350-2000; (202) 694-6049