Supply ship
As military supply ships, supply ships ( late Middle High German trosse "baggage") have the task of supplying large warships such as aircraft carriers or cruisers and their formations during extensive operations far away from their home base. Unlike other warships, they are not used for direct combat operations, but rather for logistical support for combat units.
These ships with a tonnage of 1000 to 12,000 gross register tons not only have to provide fuel , ammunition , spare parts and provisions for the combat units , but are also intended for the transport of prisoners . They are unarmored and not or only lightly armed. In times of peace, they are usually not manned by the military, but by civilian crews.
Supply ships are either entered in the list of warships like combat ships and are therefore considered combatants in military conflicts , or are purely civilian auxiliary ships in the service of a navy; As a sign of their status, in many countries they use a special flag instead of the flag of the naval forces . In the case of the German Navy , this is the federal service flag .
See also
literature
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Mundus Verlag, 1979, ISBN 3-88385-028-4 .
