Modern Auxiliary Challenge

[Kiwi Imperialist]

Are you interested in replenishment oilers, ammunition ships, submarine tenders, and the other support vessels which keep the warships of a navy in fighting order at sea? If your answer is yes, this is the challenge for you. Welcome to Shipbucket’s modern fleet auxiliary challenge. Your task, chosen by members of the community, is to draw a fictional example of an auxiliary in service today. It can be an alternate design for a real-life navy, or a ship commissioned in a world of your own creation. The choice is yours! Please read the design requirements and challenge rules before posting a submission. Do note that outlandish and non-serious entries are no longer permitted. If you wish to explore a concept which pushes the limits of the challenge, feel free to ask if it is permissible.

Design Requirements

1. Your submission must depict a fictional naval auxiliary.
2. The chosen vessel must be shown in active service in 2021, but there is no lower bound on year of commission or construction.

Challenge Rules

1. Each participant must submit a single image.
2. The image should be a Shipbucket template modified to include the participant’s art. Templates which include a data sheet are allowed.
3. One side-view of the participant's ship must be included. One top-view is also permitted, but not required. All other views are prohibited.
4. If two views are included, they must depict the same ship, in the same configuration, at the same point in time.
5. All art must be in Shipbucket scale and conform to the Shipbucket style guidelines.
6. A textual description accompanying each submission is permitted, but not necessary.
7. Non-serious entries, or entries substantially deviate from the challenge requirements, are not allowed.
8. Off-topic posts will be reported to the relevant authorities.

This challenge will run until the 13th of June, ending at 23:59 UTC-12 (International Date Line West).
A countdown timer can be found at this link.

A poll will be held after this date. This normally occurs within an hour of the deadline. Members of the Shipbucket community will have an opportunity to rate each submission. Please provide honest and meaningful scores for each entry. Responses which grant maximum scores to a select group of entries, and minimum scores to all other entries, will be deleted. Members of the community who manipulate the results in such a fashion may also be subject to a permanent ban. Scores will be allocated in three categories, each with a scale of 1 to 10:

• Drawing Quality - The overall quality of the drawing. One might consider detailing, shading, and accuracy.
• Design Realism - How realistic is the design presented? Any accompanying text may be considered.
• Originality - Does the submission present a new and unique design, or is it a copy of an existing one?
• Suitability - Are the requirements of the challenge satisfied by the design? Does it suit them well?

[Kiwi Imperialist]

Design Requirement Updates
There has been much discussion on Discord about the exact nature of this challenge and I have chosen to update the design requirements accordingly. Challenge entries are no longer limited to a certain type of naval auxiliary. Design Requirement 1 initially read "Your submission must depict a fictional fleet auxiliary, a ship designed to support fleet operations at sea." This has been superseded by “Your submission must depict a fictional naval auxiliary.” I have also updated Design Requirement 2 to affirm that older ships are permitted, so long as they have soldiered on in service to the present day. It once said “The chosen vessel must be shown in active service in 2021.” It now states "The chosen vessel must be shown in active service in 2021, but there is no lower bound on year of commission or construction." These changes should not affect anyone already working on an entry, unless they chose to draw a type of auxiliary which was not previously permitted. However, I wish to apologise for any confusion these changes may generate.

[TimothyC]

Edit: This entry has been significantly updated since originally posted.
Mount Tapochau Class Command Ship




CC-21 Mount Tapochau
CC-22 Matafao
CC-23 Lata
CC-24 Mount Lamlam
CC-25 Cerro Punta
CC-26 Mount Bordeaux

Hull and propulsion: Shared with CGBL
~14000 tons full displacement
LOA 650 feet
Beam 69 feet
Aviation Large Hanger, sized for two H-60s, helipad sized for V-22 & H-3 operations
Speed 30+ knots
Crew: ~30 officers, ~270 enlisted
Air Staff: ~10 officers, ~40 enlisted
Command Staff: ~50 officers, ~300 enlisted
Weapons:
16 Mk 41 VLS Cells (Strike Length)
4 Mk 38 Mod 2 Gun mounts
2 Mk 32 SVTT
2 100kW Laser CWIS
Electronics:
SMART-L, HAMMR, and a wide range of signals collection and communications gear.

Developed from the CG-74 class cruiser, the CC-21 class fills the role of command ship in the modern American Navy. Named after the tallest mountains on different American Islands, the class was planned to replaced the Blue Ridge class while offering a higher speed platform. The ship's limited self-defense capabilities were selected in part to avoid the ships being tasked to perform mission better suited for a destroyer or a full cruiser, while at the same time allowing the ships to protect themselves if under threat by an opposing force. These ships, commissioned in the early 2000s have often been criticized for their lack of crew space, and for their higher than needed speed. Both of these criticisms can be traced to the use of the CG-74 hull, which was selected because in the mid-late 1990s, it was the only class of military ships that were under procurement that had marginal hull size to complete the command ship mission, and was on-time and under-budget.


Old, depreciated version.
Less old, but also depreciated version.

[Schlemm138]

USNS Gulflander (T-AHT 1)



USNS Gulflander is a former MSC Diamond Head Class Light Multi-Purpose Auxiliary vessel. She was acquired in 2017 by the United States Navy Training Wing 5 for the purposes of training helicopter pilots. Her name in a homage to the former MV Baylander (IX-514) and reflects that she can venture out into the Gulf of Mexico to allow helicopter pilot trainees to practice over water navigation in addition to landing practice. She is equipped with a flight deck capable of recovering all USN/USMC and Joint Service aircraft up to the CH-53E/K and can recover V-22 aircraft with the use of portable heat shields. She is equipped with a modular flight deck that can interface with the existing ISO container sockets in the deck and a modular JP-5 fueling system.



The Diamond Head Class T-AML is based on an Edison Chouest Offshore 92 meter offshore supply vessel designed and constructed in the 1990s. These ships are equipped with a single UNREP station on the starboard side that can send and receive cargo. They are equipped with various ISO container sockets and can carry up to 36 twenty foot containers. If no crane is available pier-side for loading containers, the ships are equipped with a 35 ton crane as well as a container mover onboard. Cargo, including cold storage and ordnance, can be moved to the UNREP area for ship-to-ship transfer or to the stern for VERTREP. Additionally, durable palletized cargo can also be stowed on the deck, including the VERTREP area.



A total of 25 Diamond Head Class T-AML ships were constructed and were all named after volcanos or former USN/MSC ammunition ships. As stated previously, the final T-AML (USNS Lassen) was requisitioned by TW-5.



I can't really think of anything else I want to do to the ship, so here it is. I've included some of the various container handling gear I did. I originally wanted to equip the ship with a straddle carrier, but I couldn't get enough containers onboard using it.

[erik_t]

The purpose of a task-group-speed numbered fleet flagship is not obvious, but I quite like the execution. I wonder about the level of effort dedicated to LO in such a high-value non-frontline target. Thing like the internal life rafts gobble up valuable volume. I think the satcom outfit somewhat falls victim to the empty-deck problem (there's some empty deck! we need to make it not-empty).

Gulflander is also rather well-drawn, but I don't understand the hullform or some of the shading.

[Kiwi Imperialist]

...

With the challenge now encompassing all modern auxiliaries, I am glad to see a smaller vessel among the entries. The concept you have created is quite interesting too. Unfortunately, Challenge Rule 1 (“Each participant must submit a single image.”) limits the number of drawings you can submit to one. I can only include one of the three you have posted in the final poll. Do you have a preference?

[Hood]

Project 1808.3 Tobol, 2021

With the creation of the carrier fleet in the early 1970s with and a more global posture, the Soviet Navy began looking at improving its at-sea replenishment capability. The sole Project 1859 ‘Berezina’-class ship (of the same name) was followed by an improved Project 1808 design which was beamier and improved in a number of detailed areas to improve the cargo offloading. There are two liquid refuelling and two solid store gantries as well as two 15-ton and two 10-ton cranes.
The resulting class of eight ships was curtailed; the first ship, Volga was completed as an aviation training ship and two more were completed as command ships and a further two cancelled. Three ships did however complete as planned, Mius, Zeya and Tobolo. The last ship remains in service today, refitted with modern self-defence weapons during the late 2000s to replace her original heavy battery of guns and missiles. She serves with the Northern Fleet but is scheduled to be retired by 2025.

Displacement: 36,000 tons (full load)
Dimensions: 214.7m (long, overall), 200.4m (long, waterline), 30m (beam), 8.53m (draught, over sonar dome)
Armament: (original design) 2x2 76mm AK-726 gun mounts, 1x2 Zif-122 Osa-M SA-N-4 'Gecko' SAM launcher, 2x4 Strela-2M SA-N-5 'Grail' SAM launchers, 4x 30mm AK-630 CIWS mounts, 2x RBU-1000 ASW rocket launchers; (as refitted in 2009-11) 1x1 76mm AK-176, 3x Kortik CIWS (2x6 GSh-30K cannon & 8x 9M311K SAMs each), 2x RBU-1000 ASW rocket launchers
Aircraft:: hangar for 2x Kamov Ka-25 ‘Hormone' or Kamov Ka-27 ‘Helix' series helicopters
Cargo Capacity: 16,000 tons of fuel (including avgas), 2,000 tons of dry provisions (including 150 tons chilled and 40 tons of ammunition), 500 tons fresh water
Machinery: 2x 16,500shp T-1 gas turbines
Speed: 21.5kts
Complement: 607

Ships in Class
Volga: completed 24/7/1978 to a modified design as the Project 1808.1 training aircraft carrier
Mius: completed 26/5/1980 to baseline Project 1808 design, assigned to the Northern Fleet, decommissioned in 2005
Zeya: completed 14/9/1982 to baseline Project 1808 design, assigned to the Pacific Fleet, decommissioned in 2009
Tobol: completed 9/6/1984 to baseline Project 1808 design, assigned to the Pacific Fleet, laid up 1992-95, recommissioned and transferred to Northern Fleet in 1996, refitted to Project 1808.3 standard 2009-11, extant in 2021
Neva: completed 23/6/1985 to a modified design as a Project 1808.2 command ship
Kama: completed 17/10/1987 to a modified design as a Project 1808.2 command ship
2 ships: planned as Project 1808 ships, re-planned as Project 1808.4 space tracking ships

[dalamace]

Ben-Harun-Class Sail Training Ship

Received as a gift of sort from Variagstaat in the 1970s, the Jacques Ben-Harun would be one of the largest sailing ship currently in operation and the one of three in the Dufresne People's Defence Navy. She serves not only as a sail training ship but also to perform diplomatic visits to other nations and often pariticipates in both national and international sailing events.

[APDAF]

An older Ballistic Missile Submarine given a second lease on life as a Deep Sea Rescue Vehicle Mothership. The Mercy Class was originally built in the mid to late sixties and named as the Retribution Class as the third Ballistic Missile Submarine class of the Great Russian Union. They had rather uneventful carreers till the mid-90s when they were slowly decommissioned due to age. However two of the youngest members of the class were converted into the Mercy Class with the first one being commissioned in 1999. Both boats are still in active service in 2021 however they are likely to replaced in the very near future.

The DSRVs of the first boat the Mercy are named "Faith, Hope and Charity" respectively. While the second boat the Salvation are named "Perseverance, Resilience and Conviction"

[Corp]

Didn't have a chance to polish it as much as I'd have liked and it's got plenty of stuff I think needs to be changed but since time has pretty much run out, here's my entry.

Stagazer II was developed in the Late 2000s as a replacement for the first SNA Stargazer, the long serving primary range ship for the Shintari Navy's Missile Development Office. Originally Stargazer II Was intended to feature two AESA radars, An S-Band and an X-Band. Rising costs for the System eventually led to the cancellation of the X-Band Array and as a result the ship was fitted with the S-Band radar dish salvaged from the previous Star Gazer.