Spearhead class Expeditionary Fast Transport ship has recently been selected to replace 2 aging Hospital Ships and it got me thinking. What other neglected classes of ship could this ship also replace? I settled on the often forgotten Destroyer Tender. The EPF has more than enough space to convert its cargo bays into the maintenance facilities and crew accommodations required to support a larger ship. USNS Burlington (EPF-10) even completed a deployment in 2021 providing maintenance and tending services to ships deployed in 4th Fleet as a proof of concept deployment.
The last class of Destroyer Tenders in the US Navy were the Yellowstone class serving in fleet from 1980-1996, only 13 to 16 years, but providing a pivotal service to the fleet. One example is USS Yellowstone’s 1994 deployment where in 4 months her crew completed more than 3,400 jobs, totaling 119,088 man hours, through 17 major alongside repairs on various ships, including 45 fly away teams to other areas.
Much has been talked about on here and in the US about the declining US naval infrastructure being about to build the ships needed to reach the target 355 ship navy but little about how to sustain it. During a typical ship’s deployment, half way through the ship will conduct a multi-week mid-deployment CMAV (contracted maintenance availability) to fix things broken on deployment and conduct much needed preservation (a hit button issue today). Lack of large scale maintenance facilities overseas more than often means ships conducting these CMAVs or emergent repairs in predictable ports. (Example: in 5th fleet your only real option is Bahrain and maybe Jebel Ali, in 4th fleet it’s Guantanamo Bay unless you want to make the hike up to NAS Key West or Mayport FL). Having a class of Destroyer Tenders would allow more maintenance teams to reach more ships in more places.
This need for Destroyer Tenders is exacerbated in a time of war where a damaged ship’s only option for repair will be to return to the states (if it even can). Due to the few yards and drydocks that can accommodate navy ships, the US Navy in a time of war may very well need to make the tough decision between using its precious few yard space to repair a ship at the cost of building a new one. A recent example of a damaged ship needing to be returned to the states for repairs is the USS Cole (pictured being heavy lifted back). This is a service that may not be available to the fleet during wartime. Another example is following the USS Stark attack, where in the wake of the attack USS Acadia provided berthing, messing, and repair services to her. Imagine a scenario similar to the 2016 USS Mason attack off Yemen, but instead she was hit. The closest US base for her to pull in would have been Djibouti, however this base severely lacks the ability to repair ships. A quickly dispatched Destroyer Tender could rectify this.
Another important point that would highlight the importance of Destroyer Tenders is the hot button issue today of short handed crews and topside preservation. Ships today are underway more, longer, and with less crews than they have ever been in history. New ships entering the fleet (example: the Constellation class FFG will be nearly 500 feet long, 7000 tons with a crew of only 130ish, another example the Zumwalts are 15000 tons, 600 ft and have a crew of 150) will be even “optimally manned” (I.e. the politically correct term for “minimally manned”) even further stretching the capabilities of their crews which are already overworked. A class of Destroyer Tenders would help alleviate the maintainance burdens that these crews are experiencing.
