"David Lesher" wrote...

?? I thought the Navy forbit anything but JP5 on board. To the extent
a Navy plane refueled at an AF base was not allowed below decks, until
"clean"...

JP4 was kero/gasoline/naptha/tolune or such; nasty low-flash stupf.
JP5's basically Jet-A, I think. And Jet-A is ultra-pure kero.

When the USAF started transitioning to JP-8 in the '80s, the Navy was relatively
slow to follow suit. When I was at China Lake in the early 90s, there was still
a mix of JP-4, JP-5, and JP-8 found at various USAF and Navy shore bases, though
JP-5 was still used exclusively on ships. However, there was talk at the time
about JP-8 eventually replacing both JP-4 and JP-5 (though that may have been
based on economic and/or political concerns, not on safety concerns). I haven't
followed the transition since I left the Navy in '94, so I don't know how widely
JP-8 was[n't] adopted for use at sea.

Also I don't know how provisions for Army/USMC vehicles are made on various
amphib and Maritime Prepositioning ships -- F-76/diesel, JP-5, JP-8, or some
combination. The most recent document I could find is DOD Directive 4140.25,
August 25, 2003 (http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/c...t/d414025p.txt).
It designates F-76 as primary for ship propulsion, JP-5 as primary for sea-based
aircraft, and JP-8 for ground vehicles (though JP-5 can be substituted). So,
apparently JP-8 never came into accepted use at sea.