for the most part unarmed. These are ships that serve a
variety of purposes in continental and overseas harbors,
sea frontiers, convoys, amphibious forces, and task
forces. Many are small, but of incalculable use to the
Navy.
With a few exceptions, support craft designations
start with the letter Y. A few of the class names identify
the many duties they perform:
Auxiliary floating dry dock—large (AFDB) and
small (AFDL)
Floating crane (YD)
Diving tender (YDT)
Ferryboat or launch (YFB)
Fuel oil barge (YO)
Gasoline barge (YOG)
Oil storage barge (YOS)
Floating workshop (YR)
Tug (YTL, YTM, or YTB)
Water barge (YW)
REVIEW 5 QUESTIONS
Q1. What is the term used to describe the transfer of
f u e l a n d s u p p l i e s b e t w e e n s h i p s w h i l e
underway?
Q2. Ships usually maintain a distance of _______
feet while taking on supplies at sea.
Q3. What type of replenishment allows a receiving
ship to stay on station in combat formation?
Q4. What class of ship is the largest and most
powerful auxiliary ship?
Q5. The mission of the rescue, salvage, and towing
ships is to—
Q6. Support craft designators usually start with what
letter?
NAVAL AIRCRAFT
Learning Objective: When you finish this chapter, you
will be able to—
Recognize fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft,
t o i n c l u d e a i r c r a f t n o m e n c l a t u r e a n d
characteristics.
The history of naval aviation goes back to 1911
when the Navy acquired its first aircraft, a pusher-type
biplane with no cockpit. The only covered surfaces were
the wings and tail, and flight speed was less than 50
mph. By contrast, today’s high-performance planes
have speeds in excess of 2,000 mph.
AIRCRAFT NOMENCLATURE
In this section, you will learn the basic parts of
aircraft and how the Navy identifies aircraft.
Fixed-Wing Aircraft Nomenclature
A fixed-wing aircraft (fig. 8-39) may be divided into
three basic parts—fuselage, wings, and empennage
(tail).
FUSELAGE.—The fuselage is the main body of
the aircraft, containing the cockpit and, if there is one,
the cabin. On virtually all naval fighter and attack
aircraft operational today, the engines and some of the
fuel tanks are mounted within the fuselage.
WINGS.—Wings are the primary lifting devices of
an aircraft, although some lift is derived from the
fuselage and tail. Located on the trailing (rear) edge of
the wings are flaps that may be used to give extra lift on
8-32
Student Notes:
