Wichita-class Fleet Replenishment Oiler

Wichita-class fleet replenishment oilers comprised a class of seven replenishment oilers used by the United States Navy from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. During this time the ships were commissioned naval auxiliaries with the hull classification AOR. The ships were designed for rapid underway replenishment using both connected replenishment and vertical replenishment. The ships could carry 160,000 barrels of petroleum fuel, 600 tons of munitions, 200 tons of dry stores and 100 tons of refrigerated stores. The original concept was that the AORs would serve the same function for the anti-submarine carrier (CVS) groups that the larger, faster Sacramento-class AOEs did for the attack carrier (CVA) groups. With the reduction in the U.S. Navy fleet, these ships were all decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) in the 1990s. The Wichita-class fleet oilers would all be purchased in the late 1990s through mid 2000s by the Mexican Navy during their expansion and modernization.

Specifications

 * Type: Fleet Replenishment Oiler (Hull designation AOR)
 * Service Period: 1969-1996 (USN); 1999-Present (Mexican Navy)
 * Characteristics
 * Length: Waterline: 640 feet (195.07 meters); Overall: 659 feet (200.86 meters)
 * Beam: 96 feet (29.261 meters)
 * Draft: 35 feet (10.67 meters)
 * Displacement: 13,533 tons (Standard); 40,151 tons (Full Load)
 * Crew: 497 (34 officers and 463 enlisted)
 * Power: 40,000 shp (29,840 kW)
 * Propulsion: 2 x LM1600 gas turbines, 2 x shafts
 * Speed: 24 knots (44.49 km/hr)
 * Armament
 * 2 x Mk.29 ESSM Launchers
 * 2 x 20mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS
 * Aircraft Carried: 2 x CH-47F Chinook

Unit Run

 * ARM Papaloapan (AOR-01) - former USS Wichita (AOR-01)
 * ARM Champotón (AOR-02) - former USS Milwaukee (AOR-02)
 * ARM Mátape (AOR-03) - former USS Kansas City (AOR-03)
 * ARM Tehuantepec (AOR-04) - former USS Savannah (AOR-04)
 * ARM Fuerte (AOR-05) - former USS Wabash (AOR-05)
 * ARM Suchiate (AOR-06) - former USS Kalamazoo (AOR-06)
 * ARM Actopan (AOR-07) - former USS Roanoke (AOR-07)