Why does the Chinese fleet always have supply ships when it goes to sea, but the American fleet does

In fact, 0 ships. Here's an explanation for you:

The U.S. Naval Sealift Command has a total of 34 replenishment ships, including:

1 Kilauea-class ammunition ship.

4 "Supply" class fast combat support ships.

14 Louis-Clarke-class dry cargo ships.

15 Henry J. Kessel-class fuel supply vessels.

In fact, the so-called ammunition ships, dry cargo ships, and supply ships are all what we call "comprehensive supply ships", and they can all carry out comprehensive replenishment of dry cargo, oil, and fresh water.

But one more thing to say, in fact, the US Navy does not have "active" supply ships at all. Around 2005, the U.S. Navy placed all auxiliary vessels, including a variety of non-combat vessels, under the jurisdiction of the Military Sealift Command, which theoretically retired from the U.S. Navy, but in practice, most of them were civilian contractors, although there were military personnel on board. In the case of the Louis Clarke-class, for example, the conventional ship usually carries 11 naval personnel, but the actual operation of the ship is 124 civilian personnel.

In addition to various supply support vessels, the MSC also has a large number of ships, including tugboats, hospital ships, detection ships and rescue ships, which is larger than the combat fleet of the United States Navy.

The Chinese Navy currently has eight supply ships of five types. At least 2 ships are under construction.

The Hongzehu, with a deadweight of 15,230 tons and a displacement of 21,740 tons (fully loaded), was commissioned in 1981.

Poyang Lake, with a deadweight of 15,230 tons and a displacement of 21,740 tons (fully loaded), joined the People's Navy in 1979.

Yangcheng Lake, displacement: 10,975 tons (full load), commissioned in March 1992, attached to the South China Sea Fleet.

Jingpo Lake, displacement: 10,975 tons (full load), commissioned in August 1992, attached to the South China Sea Fleet.

Qinghai Lake, displacement: 37,000 tons (full load), commissioned in 1996, with the South China Sea Fleet.

Qiandao Lake, displacement: 23,000 tons (fully loaded), entered service with the East China Sea Fleet on April 30, 2005.

Weishanhu, displacement: 23,000 tons (full load), commissioned in April 2004, incorporated into the South China Sea Fleet.

Fuxian Lake, displacement: about 15,000 tons (full load), belonging to the South China Sea Fleet, commissioned in 2007.

All of them are single-axis, so that once they are damaged in wartime, they will lose power and cannot move forward, which will have serious consequences for the supply of other combat ships.

10. The speed is slow, except for the maximum speed of the Fuchi-class at 19 knots, the other speeds are basically at the speed of knots, which is very different from the speed of 22-26 knots of the supply ships of the United States and Japan, and it is not enough for the speed of the large fleet to accompany it in the future.

Third: the displacement and loading capacity are small, except for the 885 with a maximum displacement of more than 37,000 tons, the other maximum displacement is 22,000-23,000 tons, and the gap is also large compared with foreign countries.

Ask the commander-in-chief of the PLA Navy to go.

The supply ship Hongzehu, formerly known as "Taicang" (string number: Beiyun 575), "Taicang" class (NATO code name Fuqing class), was commissioned in 1981, and its main task was to accompany destroyers and frigates on the way to replenish the formation.

Displacement: deadweight 15230 tons, displacement 21740 tons (full load).

Poyang Lake (once used string number X615, R327, Dongyun 615 Fengcang), 905 "Taicang" class (NATO code name Fuqing class) supply ship, is China's first oil and water dry cargo supply ship. On June 25, 1976, the construction of the supply vessel (X615) began at the Dalian Shipyard. He joined the People's Navy on December 15, 1979.

Displacement: deadweight 15230 tons, displacement 21740 tons (full load).

Yangcheng Lake, Type 904 (NATO called Dayun class) transport and supply ship, once known as "Nanyun". It was built at Shanghai Qiuxin Shipyard and commissioned in March 1992 as part of the South China Sea Fleet.

Displacement: 10975 tons (fully loaded).

Jingpo Lake, a Type 904 (NATO called the Universiade-class) transport and supply ship, was once known as "Nanyun" and "Yuzheng 21" (temporarily called). It was built at Shanghai Qiuxin Shipyard and commissioned in August 1992 as part of the South China Sea Fleet.

Displacement: 10975 tons (fully loaded).

Qinghai Lake, Type 908 (NATO called Nancang-class) ocean-going supply ship, formerly known as: Nanyun 953 (Nancang). This ship is the Komandram Fedko class AOR, built by the Ukrainian Kherson shipyard, supporting the aircraft carrier formation of the Soviet Navy, sailed to the large continuous construction in 1993, and was delivered to the South China Sea Fleet in May 1996.

Displacement: 37000 tons (fully loaded).

Qiandao Lake; The 887 Weishanhu, a Type 903 (known as Fuchi-class in NATO) ocean-going supply ship, was launched at the Hudong Shipyard on July 21, 2003 and commissioned with the East China Sea Fleet on April 30, 2005. It is the first comprehensive supply ship of the Chinese Navy with the ability to replenish ships at night. The displacement is close to 10,000 tons.

It is the first comprehensive supply ship of the Chinese Navy with a truly modern configuration.

Displacement: 23000 tons (fully loaded).

Fuxian Lake, the lead ship of the Type 904A large comprehensive supply ship. It is part of the South China Sea Fleet and entered service in 2007.

Displacement: about 15,000 tons (full load).

Sacramento-class supply ships, **-class supply ships, Kilauea supply ships, "Lewis and Clark" class T-AKE dry cargo ammunition supply ships, fleet tanker types unknown, the above are found, can be found on the Internet.

The U.S. Navy generally allocates one integrated supply ship to each aircraft carrier battle formation. Due to the large number of supply ships built by the U.S. Navy, only three of the most representative ones will be introduced.

Sacramento class: commissioned in 1964 and 1970, a total of 4 fast combat support ships, decommissioned in 1999 and 2005. The world's largest integrated supply ship.

** class: successively commissioned in 1994 and 1998, fast combat support ships, a total of 4 ships, active service.

Wichita class: commissioned in 1969 and 1976, a total of 7 integrated supply ships, for the U.S. Navy in the occasion of low speed (such as anti-submarine warfare) specially built low-cost supply ships, has now been decommissioned.

<> "The U.S. Navy Receives Unmanned Transport Ships.

According to foreign media reports, the American company Austal officially delivered the expeditionary fast transport ship "Appalachicola" to the US Navy. This is the 13th Pioneer-class expeditionary fast transport ship installed by the U.S. Navy, and it is expected to become the largest unmanned ship in the U.S. Navy.

Be autonomous.

The keel was laid in January 2021, launched in November 2021, and the acceptance and unmanned test were completed on September 12, 2022. Different from the general ship acceptance test, this test is mainly aimed at the manned unmanned mode conversion, autonomous control, and other performance tests, with the purpose of testing the unmanned level of the "Appalachikola."

During the test, the Abara Trapped Chicora sailed 678 nautical miles (1 nautical mile equals a kilometer) from the port of Mobile in the southern Alabama to the port of Miami in the eastern part of Florida. 85% of the time, the ship is in a state of autonomous piloting, and at the same time, it can automatically take appropriate control measures when sailing against other ships, indicating that the ship has some autonomous navigation capabilities. According to the US media, the test marks an important step in the development of large unmanned transport ships for the US Navy.

Strong carrying performance.

The "Apalachikora" has an efficient transportation and delivery efficiency, and is mainly used for the rapid transportation of equipment and personnel in the theater of operations. The ship has a total length of 103 meters, a width of meters, a draft of meters, and a displacement of 1,515 tons. The hull of the ship is designed as an aluminum catamaran, driven by four German mtu 8000 diesel engines and propulsion units, with a top speed of 43 knots, an average cruising speed of 35 knots and a cruising range of 2,222 kilometers.

The ship comes with its own cranes, springboards and other equipment, and can complete the loading and unloading of materials on its own in ports that lack infrastructure. At the same time, the ship has a modular cabin deck of 1,900 square meters, which can carry 600 tons of supplies or 312 fully armed soldiers. In addition, the ship also supports V-22 "Osprey" tiltrotor aircraft, CH-53K and MH-60 for take-off and landing operations, and can also carry drones in the future.

The "Apalachikola" is capable of self-maintenance of equipment, monitoring of the ship's condition, etc., and can operate autonomously for up to 30 days without human intervention.

It remains to be seen.

The emergence of large unmanned transport ships provides a new option for the US Navy to perform a range of tasks. As of May 2022, the U.S. Navy has ordered a total of 16 expeditionary fast transport ships, and after the USS Appalachikora, there are three medical-type Pioneer-class expeditionary fast transport ships. The head of the American company Austal said that the "Appalachikola" can provide a lot of support to the US Navy and improve the ability of expeditionary operations.

However, some analysts believe that the aluminum hull of the "Appalachikola" could not withstand artillery fire, and its prototype ship was destroyed in the waters of the Persian Gulf, and the lead ship was hit by huge waves during an operation, and the bow was seriously damaged. Autonomous navigation requires a higher level of environmental adaptability for the ship, which will pose a challenge to the Appalachicola.

Today, the Chinese Navy has a total of 8 supply ships of 5 types, of which "Hongze Lake" (881), "Poyang Lake" (882), "Qinghai Lake" (885), "Qiandao Lake" (886) and "Weishan Lake" (887) are comprehensive supply ships, and "Dongting Lake" (883), "Jingpo Lake" (884) and "Fuxian Lake" (888) are island and reef supply ships.