Thread: Yugoslavia
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Old 08-17-2020, 03:03 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Originally Posted by Olefin View Post
Keep in mind that the 42nd had over 120 M113 type vehicles and 58 tanks at full strength - and they had been in the US the whole time basically on riot control duties - so they probably went over at close to full strength

They may only have 6 operational M60A4's by June 2000 but thats probably more a function of being in combat a year and a half, no replacements and most importantly probably zero spare parts given they are the only tanks that got sent to Yugoslavia - and no parts to draw on from the rest of the US forces

So you need a decent amount of ships to transport that many tanks - also it appears to be multiple convoys - if you look at the wording on the three divisions its pretty clear they didnt all come over together

76th Inf - left the US in late Oct 98
80th - left US possibly with the 76th

42nd - assuming the date for starting combat against the Croatians was not a typo they got there first - i.e. they entered combat on 10/7/98 while the other two units were still on the water

and they had to have been there or the two light inf divisions would not have survived a year without them - all that would have been left would be shredded remnants most likely without the heavy armor that the 42nd had
I have to question the need for lots of ships to transport 58 tanks and 120 M113s. The Algol class Fast ROROs (Roll-on-roll-off) operated by SEALIFT Command wouldn't break a sweat hauling that and they can do it at 30 knots sustained speed. The USS Denobula carried all of the 10th's SEVEN HUNDRED TRUCKS with room to spare and it is rated for about 750 heavy wheeled vehicles.
In fact, these ROROs are built like parking garages with ramps connecting the various decks. There is a heavy ramp both at the stern and along the side amidships with a lighter ramp unfolding from the bow. In Somalia, we would drive into them from the amidships ramp down into the bowels of the ship and begin a caravan up each deck before leaving from the bow ramp on the weather deck. Each deck would have palletized supplies stationed in the middle of the cargo deck for loading by overhead jib cranes into our trucks with different cargos (food, ammo, medical supplies, and repair parts) on each deck. We would pull onto the outside travel lane painted on a deck, get pallets loaded by crane and then drive up to the next deck for their cargo drop. Repeating this level by level until we had all our supplies. We would then drive down the bow ramp to leave. It was both fast and efficient

The new BOB HOPE class RORO, which was commissioned in 1998, can carry 1,000 heavy vehicles plus freight in her bowels.

Carrying a couple of hundred vehicles is a JOKE to SEALIFT Command.
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