The Peary and her sister ships are, in essence, combinations of fleet service ships of the USN's past. In World War 2 and thereafter, the supplies that the USN fleet and her crews needed were transported by a number of different vessels such as dedicated ammunition ships, an oiler or tanker for fuel, a cargo ship for dry goods, canned food and spare parts. These ships would converge on a port or island and unload to warehouses to which then the combat ships would have to leave their station and steam to the port in order to be resupplied. Today, vessels such as Peary can hold and transport ammunition stores, fuel, transport helicopters, frozen, fresh and dry goods of all types. Now the USN fleet warship can stay on station and be resupplied without having to leave its post. Flexibility has proven to be the key to Peary's success - one day in port to resupply and six days at sea - only to do it all over again to in the upcoming weeks - a steady supply of critical and non-critical goods intended to support the fleet and keep the US mission abroad humming like a well-oiled machine.
The time and location the Peary will meet her customers is based entirely on the current need of the fleet. The military commander provides the MSC Captain with the course, latitude and longitude of the warship in question. However, when the two ships meet, they navigate to within 150 feet of each other on a parallel course and match their speed, maintaining their courses. A small line is shot over from the Peary and used to retract a heavy cable to which fueling hoses are wrenched between the two ships. When in place, the customer ship received both diesel and jet fuel pumped from the Peary at a rate of 200 gallons per minute. Additional cables carrying arresting gear holds two or more pallets of food or supplies and are moved from the Peary to the customer ship within seconds and then unloaded and returned for another repeat trip. When all the supplies have been transferred, the customer does a breakaway move which involves simply moving away from the Peary at full speed. This is done to reduce collision accidents that have occurred when large ships have been in close proximity to smaller ones. The second type of supply is using the onboard helicopter which carries pallets of product hung below in cargo nets. The aircraft hover above the customer ship, allowing the supplies to be removed, and this process is then repeated as many times as needed. The helicopters also transport injured seamen to an awaiting ship with a surgery onboard.
It is vessels like the Peary that make the USN one of the most powerful forces on the planet. Logistics are the heart of any military operation - greater so than any one man or weapon - and allow the modern military to fulfill its mission. Without logistically-minded ships in its inventory, the US Navy would find itself taken back to the days when its reach on the high seas was limited and its vessels needed to be recalled regularly for resupply.
The Peary operates under the motto of "King of the Team".
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