TIME LAPSE – Watch MSC Underway Replenishment At Sea

Updated: April 21, 2023 (Originally published October 22, 2013)

In the good old days of Navy Operations, coaling stations had been located in friendly ports around the world and sailors would get shore leave while their ships were replenished with fuel and supplies. Despite the boost of morale that shore leave provided, coaling stations had two operational disadvantages: the competition between the colonial powers for suitable sites astride the world’s trade routes, and the introduction of a predictable pattern to a nation’s naval operations.

MSC IS HIRING!  – Check ’em out HERE

As any bluejacket familiar with the term Go Rub Your Balls With Grease can tell you Underway replenishment (UNREP US Navy) or replenishment at sea (The rest of the world) eliminated this need by providing a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way.

The following is a time lapse video of an UNREP operation performed between a Military Sealift Command (MSC) ship  Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria and the USS Kearsarge, a US Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.

ALSO Watch: USS Kearsarge Time Lapse Transit Of The Suez Canal in 60 Seconds

OR WATCH: ALL AT SEA TIME LAPSE PHOTOS/VIDEOS

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