The Suribachi-class ammunition ships was a class of two auxiliary vessels of the United States Navy in service from 1956 to 1995. They were among the first specialized underway replenishment ships built after World War II. The s are sometimes considered part of this class. Both ships were decommissioned in the mid-1990s and were struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1996. Both vessels were discarded in the 2000s.
The Suribachi class were the first ammunition ships specifically designed for underway replenishment for the United States Navy. The Suribachi class were designed by the Ship Characteristics Board as SCB 114. The ships had elevators installed to ease the internal handling of ammunition and explosives. Additionally as part of a refit in 1960s under SCB 232, the class had three holds converted to store missiles and were given high speed transfer systems for replenishment at sea.
The two ships had a light displacement of 7470LT, a standard displacement of and displaced at full load. They measured, 512feet long overall with a beam of and a draft of . The vessels were powered by steam created by two Combustion Engineering boilers capable of at powering two Bethlehem geared turbines turning one propeller creating 16000hp. This gave the ships a maximum speed of 21kn, but this later declined to .
The Suribachi class were initially armed with four twin-mounted 3"/50 caliber guns placed in superfiring positions fore and aft. However, in the 1960s, the two aft mounts were removed and a landing pad for helicopters was installed in place. The vessels mounted SPS-10 surface search radar and two Mk 36 SRBOC six-barrelled chaff launchers for electronic defense. They also had SPS-6 radar and Mark 63 Gun Fire Control System which were removed in 1977–1978. The vessels had a complement of 312 sailors including 18 officers.
| Suribachi class construction data | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Number | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate | Link |
| AE-21 | Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard | 31 January 1955 | 2 November 1955 | 17 November 1956 | Decommissioned 2 December 1994, sold for scrapping, 2009 | [{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=AE21}}] | |
| AE-22 | 16 May 1955 | 3 May 1956 | 30 March 1957 | Decommissioned 30 June 1995, sunk as target during RIMPAC, 12 July 2006 | [{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=AE22}}] | ||
Two new purpose-built ammunition ships were authorized in 1954. As ammunition ships, the two vessels carry the names of volcanoes. The two vessels were constructed by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at the Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard in Maryland. Suribachi entered service in 1956, followed by Mauna Kea in 1957. The s are often considered part of this class, but were built to an altered design. Mauna Kea was transferred to the reserve fleet in 1979. However, due to high operational requirements, Mauna Kea rejoined the active fleet in 1982. In 1986 Mauna Kea conducted trials using portable rails for the deployment of naval mines.
Suribachi was decommissioned in 1994, followed by Mauna Kea in 1995. Both ships were stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 12 December 1996. Mauna Kea was used as target practice in fleet exercise in 2006,[1] and Suribachi was scrapped at Brownsville, Texas in mid 2009.[2]