Auxiliaries must shuttle to port for fuel and supplies while the warships remain on station. Keeping one supply ship with the group while another reloads creates a requirement beyond a simple one-in-three availability calculation. One-stop ships can substitute more readily for dry-stores ships than tankers because of the balance of cargo and fuel they carry. The conditional force estimate for two carriers and a possible littoral group is six or seven tankers, four or five dry-stores ships, and four or five one-stop ships. Those supply runs also add escort demand. One of the three frigates formerly assigned to a British carrier group could guard the tankers travelling between the group and its supply port.
Notable Point · 1:33:37-1:35:47
Fleet auxiliaries need rotation and protection too
Carrier and amphibious forces need enough tankers and stores ships to rotate through port, plus escorts to protect the replenishment chain.