U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels

For more than a century, the U.S. Navy’s battleships, cruisers, destroyers, submarines and amphibious warfare vessels have depended on a small group of specialized auxiliary ships to provide fuel, food, ammunition, parts and other material support and services. Without these workhorse vessels, the U.S. Fleet could not have won in World War II and it could not today deploy and remain on station in the far distant waters of the world.
This book provides the rosters, histories, specifications and illustrations of 130 different auxiliary ship types in the last 100 years, including the little-known ones, the latest expeditionary fast transports and future towing, salvage and rescue ships.

Ken W. Sayers is a former naval officer who served on board a Pacific Fleet destroyer escort and in the Pentagon on the staff of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs). An IBM veteran, he lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Ken W. Sayers
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 361
Bibliographic Info: 190 photos, glossary, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2019
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7256-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3532-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  vi
Preface  1
Glossary  3
Introduction  9
1 • Combat Logistics and Fleet Support Ships  23
2 • Support Ships  139
3 • Directory of U.S. Navy Auxiliary Ships  214
Bibliography  341
Index  349

• Winner, John R. Lyman Award for Best Naval and Maritime Reference Works and Published Primary Sources—North American Society for Oceanic History

• “Nicely illustrated throughout…highly recommended”—Midwest Book Review

• “A detailed and devoted look at the myriad vessels which have served the United States Navy in varying capacities from World War I to the present. Deserves a prominent place on the shelves of all naval enthusiasts. Sayers provides the proverbial money’s worth.”—Naval Historical Foundation

• “No navy can match the sheer scale and diversity of the U.S. Navy’s support ships, and Ken Sayers has produced an admirable effort to detail and describe these myriad vessels in a single volume. U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels describes the function and purpose of each class of ships in detail not to be found in other annuals. This book has been needed for a very long time.”—Christopher P. Cavas, naval journalist

• “A remarkable book about the history of the workhorse vessels of the Navy. It’s comprehensive in detail, well-illustrated and very readable. I highly recommend it both for reference and for pleasant and informative reading.”—William A. Fox, PowerShips, the magazine of the Steamship Historical Society of America, Inc.

• “A timely and robust tome that provides the proverbial money’s worth…. An authoritative and efficient monograph and a sturdy reference for naval research in one thick volume that does not disappoint.”—Jeff Schultz, Associate Professor of History, Luzerne County Community College

• “The excellent illustrations catch the eye and invite a closer look… The author has included a very large body if information in this volume”—The Northern Mariner