Refueling at Sea: Underway Replenishment

In this episode we're taking a look at UnRep (underway replenishment) and how the battleship could acquire fuel, food, people, and ammunition while at sea.

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[tombriggman]

I spent 3 years on the USS Concord AFS-5, the coolest breakaway I ever saw as a CGN that once the lines were cleared turned perpendicular to us and rang up flank speed. This being a nuclear powered vessel she literally zoomed away sending a rooster tail of water from her stern. Our Skipper remarked "What a vulgar display of power" as we plodded along at 15 knots.

[anthonyalfeo]

My sister was on a coast guard cutter based in Hawaii. She told me they always got funny looks while the cutter bobbed & dived, twisted & turned during breakaway playing the theme from Hawaii 5, 0. Remember the canoe during the credits? Hilarious

[jacktyler]

USS Tolovana, AO-64, Vietnam 1969. Heard every song on every top 40 list. I hardly remember anything specific, but the one that stayed with me was one of the destroyers. The played the theme from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, " and as it played, they'd load the Standard missile on their fantail, spin it around a couple of times, point it at us, then put it away. Corny? Sure. Did I love it? You betcha!

[kevinswayze]

I was on an AO (Oil tanker) we refueled many ships off of the coast of Vietnam . I jokingly called the New Jersey our sister ship. The New Jersey was BB 62 and we were Taluga AO 62. We did have the New Jersey come along side to receive unreps she was very impressive at a distance of about 100 feet away (the spacing distance during unreps). Other then some fuel and movies (movie transfer was one of my umnrep duties) I do not now what else she may have received.

[cruser]

I spent 2+ years on NJ, stood several watches in the engine room during Unrep. Can’t remember our break away song.
The story I do remember, we were in Australia, came along side an Aussie oiler for fuel, made standard announcement, “Good morning and welcome along side the worlds best battleship New Jersey. Stand by to receive our shot lines forward and aft.” The captain decided to play a joke and trained the 16” turrets words the oiler. He then came over the 1MC, and said “sorry, wrong guns” and then sent shot lines. I heard the guys on the other ship were a little white faced.

Spent my second tour as Oil King on AOR-7, USS Roanoke, spent many hours alongside pumping fuel to every ship out there. Used to love hearing the break away song, it meant that ship was done.

[rkdne]

In 1983, USS Lewis B Puller FFG-23 unreped from the New Jersey BB-62. Our break away song from BB-62 was "Baby Elephant Walk".

[stratagama]

Just asked my uncle from when he was in the navy, he said their breakaway song was Don't Stop Me Now by Queen.

[radhazcat]

As I recall, the breakaway song on my ship was "East Bound and Down".

[steeleslicer]

The tanker at 1:04 is a Neosho class unrep oiler that belongs to Military Sealift Command. The MSC ships are crewed by civilian employees of the Navy. When the New Jersey was first sent to the Med for the Lebanon civil war in 1983, I was on the USNS Truckee (Neosho class) and we met the New Jersey at the straits of Gibraltar. She had been allowed to go below minimum fuel level so she could steam straight from the US to the Med without having to keep the speed down for a tanker escort. After that we headed east to the Lebanon war zone and refueld the Jersey a number of times.

[chrissoley]

My dad was XO on US Camden (AOE-2) in the early 80's. Fun fact about the Sacramento class support ship is that first two ships in the class (Sacramento and Camden) each got half of the propulsion plant from USS Kentucky.

[Ashfielder]

“If You Leave Me Now” would be a great breakaway song.

[robertf]

USS Caron (DD 970), during my first 18 months aboard our Breakaway was the 'William Tell Overture' (Lone Ranger Theme.) As we cast off the final lines the Fanfare was played, but as the main gas turbines were revved up to Flank and our stern settled down into the rooster tail the main portion of the theme started playing.

[seafodder]

Unreping is a cure for sea sickness. Seriously. On my first ship (FF-1078), I would get seasick on the first day underway every time we pulled out of port! Get to sleep that night and I'd be fine for the rest of the underway period. Rinse and repeat. Until we pulled out of a port in Sicily and unrepped that afternoon in stormy (for the Med) weather. I was on the forward in-haul line for unrep and I don't know whether I just didn't have time to get sick or being topside instead of below the waterline made the difference but I never got seasick again. Thanks, unrep! :)

[jasonschieber]

I did a lot of unreps as a engineer. One breakaway song I really remember was welcome to the jungle.

[shillrtr]

I was stationed onboard the USS Monongahela AO-178 for 3 years. Was with the first group of 20 women onboard and the Mono was the first oiler to take women onboard. We were out to sea alot. Most of 1990 was out at sea. Have done many unreps, vertreps, and rase. It was always fun listening to the breakaway songs. Some were funny. Once in awhile we would do the breakaway song, usually before we would head in port to refuel/top off. Those times we'd play Jackson Browne "Running On Empty". Lol!!! Oh the memories!!!

[tokencivilian]

I have to think Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries would have been a cool breakaway song. Classic, yet intimidating as all get out, at least for those of us who grew up on Apocalypse Now.

[ThePhalanx]

Our most common breakaway song was "Fuel" By Metallica. It's perfect

[donparnell]

USS Ranger (CV-61) - it could only be the William Tell Overture. Heard every imaginable cover of this classic during Ranger's last ride in 1992. Conventional powered carriers have many many UNREPs for both diesel and jet fuel. I was riding the USS Kincaid (DD-965) on her 1992 Westpac and they played Pipeline by the Chantays, a classic surfer anthem.

[Echowhiskeyone]

I did 3 deployments on USS Sacramento(AOE-1). Thousands of UNREPs and VERTREPs. Fuel, ammo, food, soda, ice cream and toilet paper. And some beer. 5 million gallons of DFM, 2.2 million of JP-5, 6000 tons ammunition, and a lot of tons of dry and refrigerated goods.

We rotated UNREP songs so we did not have to listen to the same song up to a dozen times a day, some days. The song I remember most though was on September 12, 2001 during breakaway with USS Princeton, "Don't Tread on Me" by Metallica.

[johnslaughter]

USS Ranger played "The William Tell Overture" on breakaway. The exception was on our last UnRep of our deployment. We'd then play "California Here I Come." These were played over the 5MC, which is the flight deck announcing system. The choice of the song was because we were the Lone Ranger.
One of our escorts, USS Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7). Upon breakaway, she'd play "The Magnificent Seven" theme song and break a nice blue and gold flag, at the truck, that said "Magnificent 7."