Welcome back to the FLUCTUS channel for a discussion about how the U.S. Navy works to resupply its ships and submarines by any means necessary.
Fluctus is a website and YouTube channel dedicated to sea geeks. Whenever you are curious or an incorrigible lover of this mysterious world, our videos are made for you !
We publish 3 videos a week on our Youtube channel and many more articles on our website.
Feel free to subscribe to not miss any of our updates and visit our website to discover additional content.
Don’t forget to follow us on twitter:
https://twitter.com/fluctusofficial
Please keep the comments section respectful. Any spam, insults or troll will be deleted.
To contact us, make sure to use our email in the about section of this channel.
source
The wife of a friend of mine, Carol Pottenger, was the Captain of the USS Bridge. She retired a few years ago as a 3 star.
"Cargo transfer can be initiated with a line gun, or a sailor with a good arm" – isn´t that the same?
The Royal Navy has been doing this method for donkeys…try over the bow refuelling…that takes a lot more skill.
My memory isent as sharp now at 62 but I was with Deck department 4th Division (I think) refueling at sea. We had 4 or 5 deck divisions about 50 bosuns mates total. USS Saratoga CV60 ( known to deck seamen as " The sinking Sara" because she was leaking from rust below the waterline). Yes dangerous job, thats why you trust a bosun to make sure people are safe. In my day, the best and most experienced no nonsense attitude were the "red stripe chiefs" , E-7 and above who had NJPs so they could not wear gold service stripes. Red Stripe chiefs were the best in the Navy, often being busted in rank several times but still made chiefs. My finest memory….
I was the ship to ship phone talker at the refueling station.
Kinda scarey doing it in a typhoon.
FC2 USS BRADLEY FF-1041 85-Decomm.
I've done dozens of these in various positions. This is quite dangerous, and safety supervisors and the rest of the crew need to stay focused. We routinely do unrep and vertrep at the same time. It wasn't really necessary because of helicopters, but once in awhile we would transfer one, or a few personnel across. When doing this the lines must be human powered. If I remember right it required a minimum of 25 personnel handling the lines. Those guys would usually get soaked. The fuel they use is usually JP5 and, it's pretty close to diesel fuel. We've spilled a lot and it's not easy to catch fire. One of the lines is a "Phones and Distance Line". I was on that and also supervised that several times. It shows the distance between the ship and it has a phone cable for sound powered phones. One time the compass of the refuelling ship went bad and they started pulling away. My guys were trying to not lose and and kept feeding out line. My guys were struggling and about to get to the chock. I had to yell at my guys to let it go several times because it was apparent that we couldn't do anything. Some parts were still secured to out ship so I had my guys get away and stand behind some cover. Me and the rest of the ship were really pissed off. It tore the fuelling equipment and other thing also.
I've also been the Master Helmsman during these and it can get very nerving and stressful. When you pull up you get a lot of turbulence from the refuelling ship. And when you are next to each other a lot of times the ships kind of want to pull in to each other, plus you have all kinds of connections that make staying on course very hard. The rule is the refuelling ship picks it course and doesn't change. The other ships have to approach and stay their distance. If I remember right the ideal distance was around 120 -150 feet.
The first line is shot over with a big rubber bullet that actually has some steel in on for more weight. I think they used a M1 Rifle with a blank. This is the shot line. They gunners mates shoot those over. the line is shot over to the other ship. Sometimes it went short and they had to do it again. Sometimes the gunners mates would be naughty and try to hit something on the other ship. Sometimes we got a good laugh out of it. I can't remember the correct names and terms for the other lines. But the shot line is small and red, the other crew pulls it over, and that is connected to a bigger line. Maybe that was called a lead line. They other crew keeps pulling that over and it becomes a bigger line, and that line is connected to the what we called "Steel Rope" normal people would say a steel cable. This could take a couple hours. Unfortunately sometimes they want to do this at 6AM and we had to set up at night, and wake up early to do the rest of the setting up and prep before hand. Interestingly we would get our stuff usually between 10 -14 days if on an aircraft carrier. It seemed slower on a destroyer.
Up until they mid 90's we could throw plastic over the side with the rest of our trash. Around mid nineties we could throw trash over the side, but no plastics or chemicals. On an aircraft carrier they had a machine that turned the plastic trash in to a really large puck. And we kept those until we could pass them on.
I worked 20 years in the French Navy and we were already using this method in the late 70s !
Katanya tenaga nuklir.. kok isi bahan bakar???
Both my parents were in WW2 and the Korean Conflict. I sure wish I had joined. What an awesome job to have.
China mà xem video a hoa kì chắc run hết vòi rồi
Would you like to see one of the many reasons why the US military needs a $750-$900 billion dollar budget?
I agree that we should always have a carrier strike group cruising international waters in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans.
I agree that we should have at least three nuclear capable subs cruising international waters.
But do they have to do everything on such a grand scale costing tax payers the absolute maximum?
Maybe we should allow sailors to serve shorter cruises instead of spending months or years at sea.
It's my opinion that the Navy burns through a lot more money than they should.
Another top report. So Nuclear powered aircraft carriers need to be refueled with heavy crude oil. This shouldn't be lost on the arsetralian navies new nuclear powered subs. The arsetralian navy procurement department should stipulate that they want the latest fuel filler caps on the new nuclear sub's.
Surely the Royal Navy developed this and gave the technology to the US.
You have got this VERY wrong.
RAS (Replenishment At Sea) was developed by the Royal Navy long before the US Navy even thought of it.
The only innovation the US can claim, the changing of the name.
OH! The ship to be replenished pull up alongside of the Replenishing Ship.
With this rubbish, you have just made all and every posting of your very questionable.
I hope these 'snacks' the the seamen and women PURCHASE are VERY, VERY, cheap. It is not like these sailors get paid much. .
BEEN THERE DONE THAT AND GOT A T-SHIRT TO PROVE IT. USN 1986-1990. 🇺🇸✌️👍🏻
Excuse me …this is not a refuel of an aircraft carrier, the aircraft carrier is nuclear powered. Any fuel transfer would be for airplanes and support vehicles.
What does CBP have to do with supply depos?
You goofed up a lot on this one
Lady obviously don't know what she is talking about There are Navy guys that watch to see how accurate…
I counted 5….
Refueling nuclear rods??
Mỹ Thì Chấm Hết Trên Thế Giới Rồi
Nothing entirely new
The Navy started changing the Old Fuel lines in 1969 to what is used today. I was on a Destroyer when it started.
It wasn’t “found” it was made.
One of them I was on had to have fuel CV 62
就这？这是天才技术？？？
I’ve been through these process on a tin can countless times while deployed overseas.. Destroyers and Escorts vessels go through this every 3rd day while underway..And one way to get mail call, swap movies with other ships in the task force…
But this isn't new
Typical of are friends the US navy , the Royal Navy where doing this before the First World War
The best Helio flyers I ever saw was during a Vertirep aboard Enterprise CVAN 65. Off the coast of Vietnam, in a war zone, two CH-46 Sea Knights, the Navy version of the chinook were circling between the supply ship and the carrier. The two worked in perfect tandem, one picking a load while the other dropped one. Working at full speed, each one hardly pausing, and in picking a net the load swung almost horizontal as the chopper jumped into the circular pattern. They kept the deck crews hopping. One of the best examples of teamwork I ever saw. I stood in awe watching those teams perform.
The best example was what happened within the 4 minutes to bring the ship to battle stations. I was standing fire watch on the island, looking down on the flight deck when general quarters was sounded. I was at my station so I got to watch the scramble below. At 4 minutes there were 4 birds in the air and the entire ship's compliment stood ready. Quite impressive.
195 was the Grumman. I used to be a helmsman during those unreps.. Good ol' Yokosuka, Jn. The girl narrating this got it wrong. The only sailors the navy has is on the U.S.S. Constitution. Everybody else is a mariner in the sea going rates. Sailboat= Sailor. Motorboat= Mariner.
.
@2:18 Those are some HEAVY seas!😳
Does the phrase ‘refueling at first light’ bring back bad memories??? Then you must have been in engineering.
those were some pretty high bofas waves ! you can't pick the weather when its time to refuel ! You get more service then a cruise ship with Amazon and mail !.
Jesus , every navy pretty much does this 🤣🤣🤣
Hahahahaj
Admiral Nimitz in his early days of his Naval career help develop refueling at Sea during World War 1. Please note American carriers are all nuclear powered., this refueling practice has become commonplace since the 50s in most Navy's.
Correction: You pull up to the supply ship not the other way around.
I used to dread the call on the 1MC "Assemble the 100 man working party on hangar bay two…" because that meant UNREP. Pitch dark outside, bright daylight, rain…didn't matter. Line hauling and moving the skids…a lot of damn work! And on my boat, the USS Theodore Roosevelt that meant E-4 and below. Once I made 2nd Class PO I didn't have to do it anymore, but that didn't happen for 2 years.
Your videos are top quality, however, whoever put together the narrative needs to be let go in favor of someone who knows what the hell they're talking about.
US NAVY HAD BEEN USING THIS SYSTEM Many YEARS AGO
Sorry guys, we were doing this in the Pacific back before this chick narrating was even born.
1960 -1962 and the technology is still the same.
GO NAVY
I retired from the Navy in 2010 as a Chief. This evolution has been around a long time and now they want the world to know how great the Navy is. Go Navy, don't get pissed re-enlist.
Refueling a carrier at sea… thats literally fuckin hilarious….. I'd love to see them refuel a carrier at sea…… only fuel carriers take on is for aircraft not the carrier itself. Our carriers are all nuclear powered and take 4 years to refuel. Nice try though…..
I was on the Midway and we did a lot of this on Yankee Station off the coast of Vietnam ( should say way off)
Yeah USA is the real undisputed great superpower 😂 love it, big bro 😂😂
When this is happening everybody is red alert maybe the jets, radars, scort subs, destroyers and the captains and remote controls in land bases 😂 and yeah the firefighters and medics too 😂 that'a amazing. Yeah my Philippines can't do these, not yet happening in whole life LOL 😂
I was on the Aircraft Carrier USS CVA 34 Oriskany 68-69 during the Vietnam War the Russians used to into fear or disrupt our replenishment stations . The Oriskany and the Tanker ships had to break away to avoid a collision with the Russian Troller ship's. Rules of engagement had an effect here. Sounds crazy I would have blown then out of the sea.
When I was on As19 we had to transfer fuel to a tin can as they was running low BUT we use a 4 inch fire hose, as we DID NOT have the right hoses