A ship's tender is a boat or ship used to transport people and supplies between larger ships and shore. Tenders serve as the link between ships that are too large to dock and land. On cruise ships, lifeboat tenders double as regular tenders but are fully equipped to function as lifeboats in emergencies. Before modern technologies, warships and submarines relied heavily on tenders for maintenance and resupply support at sea.

1. A ship's tender
A ship'stender,usuallyreferredtoasa tender,isaboat, or a larger shipusedtoservice orsupportother
boatsor ships,generallybytransportingpeopleand/orsuppliestoandfromshore or anothership.
Smallerboatsmayalsohave tenders,usuallycalleddinghies.
For a varietyof reasons,itisnot alwaysadvisable totryto tie a shipup at a dock; the weatherorthe sea
mightbe rough,the time mightbe short,or the shiptoo large to fit.Insuch casestendersprovide the
linkfromshipto shore,andmay have a verybusyschedule of back-and-forthtripswhile the shipisin
port.
On cruise ships,lifeboattendersdodouble duty,servingastendersinday-to-dayactivities,butfully
equippedtoactas lifeboatsinanemergency.Theyare generallycarriedondavitsjustabove the
promenade deck,andmayat firstglance appearto be regularlifeboats;buttheyare usuallylargerand
better-equipped.Currentlifeboattenderdesignsfavorcatamaranmodels,since theyare lesslikelyto
roll inthe calmto moderate conditionsinwhichtendersare usuallyused.Theytypicallycarryupto 100
to 150 passengersandtwotothree crewmembers.
Lifeboattenderof the MS Oosterdam;note the "face mask"overthe frontwindows,andthe rolled-up
tarp that can be broughtdownoverthe entryport to make the boat weatherresistant.
Before these shipswere mass-produced,the mainwaytoboarda largership(mainlyoceanliners) was
to board a passengertender.Passengertendersremainedbasedattheirportsof registry,andwhena
shipcame through the area,the tenderwouldtie upwiththe shipandembarkpassengersonan
elevatedwalkway.Thesevesselswere larger,hadagreaterpassengercapacity,anda broadersense of
individualityintheirrespectivecompaniesthanthe more moderntendersseentoday.Because of their
increasedsize,lifeboatsandlife preserverswerecommonplace onboardthese ships(withtwoboats
beingthe standardamountfor an average tender).
Before the technologiesthatallowsubmarinesanddestroyerstooperate independentlymaturedbythe
latterhalf of the 20th century(and significantlyduringthe SecondWorldWar),theywere heavily
dependentupontenderstoperformmostmaintenance andsupply.Theirhull classificationsymbolsin
the US Navywere,respectively,ASandAD,while general repairshipswere AR.Naval tendersfelloutof
use duringthe late 20th century,as the speedandrange of warshipsincreased(reducingthe needfor
advancedbasing).Bythe endof the 20th centuryall of the tendersinthe U.S. Navyhad beeninactivated
exceptfortwosubmarine tenders.Asaresultof the settlementof the lawsuitsoverthe SuisunBayand
Estuary the U.S. Navyand MARADare engagedinan aggressive disposal programthat will scrapall of
those shipsby2017. While the Navy'splansfortendersheldinreserveinotherplaces(suchas
inactivatedsubmarinetendersUSSMcKee and USS SimonLake heldat Inactive Ships,St.JuliensCreek
Annex) were notaddressedinthatlawsuit,since itssettlement,the Navyhasindicateditsdesire to
dispose of suchshipsas soonas possible.
RIB tenderof Prince Williambeingwinchedaboardunderless-than-idealconditionsinthe NorthSea.

2. Apparentlynotcompletelywillingtoweanitself fromtendersall together–but withan eye towards
reducingcosts – the lasttwo tendersremaininginactive servicehave now beenoperationallyturned
overto the MilitarySealiftCommand.EmoryS.Land-classsubmarine tendersUSSEmoryS.Land and
USS Frank Cable are nowmannedand operatedbya "hybrid"crew.The Captainanda couple hundred
techniciansare regularNavy;while the operationof the shipitself isperformedbyMerchantMarines.
Priorto the turn-over,bothshipshadmore than 1000 sailors.While atthistime the shipsstill bearthe
AS classification,bothship'sprimarymissionhasbeenexpandedwell beyondsubmarinestoinclude
service andsupportof any Naval vessel intheiroperational area.Underthe traditional Navy
classification,bothshipsshouldbe reclassifiedasAR(AuxiliaryRepair),howeversince now operatedby
the MSC itis doubtful suchareassignmentwill occur.EmoryS. Land isforwarddeployedinthe Indian
Oceanat DiegoGarcia while FrankCable isforward-deployedinthe PacificatPolarisPoint,ApraHarbor,
Guam. Suchforwarddeploymentsare toprovide service andsupportatthe verygreat distancesof the
WesternPacific.[1]
Two tenders,SSNomadicandSSTraffic,were builtforthe White Star Line byHarland and Wolff toserve
the linersRMS OlympicandRMS Titanicat Cherbourg.Nomadicsurvivesasamuseumship,andisthe
lastremainingvesselbuiltforthe White StarLine still afloat.[2]
CaribbeanPrincesstendersdockedatBar Harbor,Maine,31 August2010
Typesof tenders[edit]
Armedtender,Britishsupplyortransportshipsthatwere outfittedandcommissionedformilitaryuse in
the Naval Service.
Buoytender,usedtomaintainnavigationalaids.
Destroyertender,alarge shipusedtosupporta flotillaof destroyersorothersmall warships.
Dive tender,ashipor boat usedtosupportthe actionsof divers.Alsoknownasa divingsupportvessel.
Lighthouse tender,usedtotendlighthousesand,later,buoys.
Luxuryyacht tender,asmall boatusedon luxuryyachts.
Mail tender,asmall tenderusedtospeedthe deliveryof mailsfromlarge liners
Motor torpedoboat tender,amobile base andsupplyshipusedtosupportmotortorpedoboatson
operationsduringWorldWarII.

3. Seaplane tender,eitherashipcarryingmultiple seaplanes,alsoknownasaseaplane carrier,and
consideredtobe a predecessortothe aircraftcarrier;or a small craft usedtosupportthe operationsof
flyingboats.
Submarine tender,alarge shipusedtosupporta flotillaof submarines.
Torpedoboattender,a shipusedduringthe late 19th and early20th centuriestocarry torpedoboatsto
seaand deploythemagainstenemyships