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We’re used to seeing pictures and videos of the sleek grey hulled warships of the United States Navy prowling the seas of the world. But for all their impressive power, the ships of the Navy don’t go anywhere without oil. Indeed, as a historical note, early US operations in the South Pacific weren’t hampered so much by the terrible losses of Pearl Harbor, but by a shortage of oil in the forward theater. The lack of tankers to support operations in the Solomons and other areas shaped much of the tempo of battle.

Eventually, of course, the Service Force would grow to be a mighty host, with literally hundreds of ships dedicated to supporting the fleet at sea, and underway replenishment, an exotic concept at the start of the war, would be routine throughout the fleet by the end of the war, allowing ships to remain at sea for weeks, and even months.

Originally established as the Military Sea Transportation Service in 1949, MSTS was the primary provider of sealift for all the armed services. Ships of the MSTS were not commissioned ships of the US Navy, but instead, Navy owned ships operated by civilian crews. In 1970, the MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command. While providing sealift is still a prime mission of MSC, over the years, the replenishment ships of the Navy have shifted from being commissioned ships to civilian manned ships, and thus fall under MSC. Ships of the MSC don’t have the prefix USS, but rather USNS, or United States Naval Ship.

MSC has five major categories of ships.

1. Combat Logistics Force
2. Service and Command Force
3. Special Mission Ships
4. Prepositioning
5. Sealift

The Combat Logistics Force of 32 ships provides underway replenishment of dry cargo, ammunition, and fuel to the fleet worldwide.

The Service and Command Force is the home of the Navy’s tenders, fleet tugs, hospital ships, and similar service ships, as well as the fleet command ship, Mount Whitney. Interestingly, some S&C Force ships are commissioned in the USN, and bear the USS prefix. Commanded by US Navy officers, they have mixed crews of sailors and civilian mariners.

The Special Mission ships are something of the cats and dogs category. If they don’t fit elsewhere, this is where they end up. Ocean surveillance ships, range support ships, sub and special warfare support ships, and oceanographic survey ships are a few of the types found here.

The Prepositioning Force stages squadrons of ships loaded with pre-configured unit sets of equipment in various potential hot spots around the world, as well as ships preloaded with the logistics to support them, ammunition, spare parts, aviation spares and ammunition, and importantly, the ability to unload bulk  fuel over unimproved beaches.

Finally, the Sealift fleet provides the routine day to day sealift support of station tankers, dry cargo ships, and a reserve surge capability to move large amounts of military cargo as needed.