Naval Auxiliary, Support and Survey Ships

Ships that serve a navy without being fighting ships, supplying the warships and carrying out the scientific and mapping work a fleet depends on: fleet oilers and replenishment ships that refuel warships at sea, combat support ships, and the survey, oceanographic and weather ships that chart waters and study the sea. An entry belongs here when the cited article calls the vessel, or its class, an oiler, a replenishment or combat support ship, a survey ship, an oceanographic research ship or a naval weather ship. It excludes ordinary merchant tankers and research vessels owned by universities. Entries are placed by what their own cited article says, so each one sits in the narrowest group its source supports, and the group page lists it beside the other members.