Mars-class combat stores ship

The Mars-class combat stores ships were a class of seven auxiliary vessels of the United States Navy. The ships were designed for underway replenishment, in support of carrier task force groups, carrying miscellaneous stores and munitions. Initially they carried no fuel oil or liquid cargo, but by the early 1990s the class was refitted with limited refuel capacities for F-76 fuel. None of the original seven ships originally commissioned by the US Navy remain in service. The Mars class was replaced by the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships.

USS Mars (AFS-1), lead ship of the class
Class overview
Builders	National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Operators	United States Navy
Succeeded by	Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship
Built	1962–1970
In commission	1963–1998
Completed	7
Retired	7
General characteristics
Type	Combat stores ship
Displacement	9,200 long tons (9,348 t) light 15,900–18,663 long tons (16,155–18,962 t) full load
Length	581 ft (177.1 m)
Beam	79 ft (24.1 m)
Draft	28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion	3 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 580 psi (3.7 MPa); 825 °F (440 °C) 1 × De Laval turbine 22,000 shp (16.4 MW) sustained 1 shaft
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Complement	486 officers and enlisted men (in Navy commission); 26 Navy personnel, 118 civilians (Military Sealift Command)
Sensors and processing systems	Mark 56 fire-control system
Armament	4 × 3"/50 caliber guns (2×2) (originally 8 (4x2)) Chaff Launchers 4 × M240G 7.62×51mm medium machine guns or M249 5.56×45mm light MG 1 M2 12.7×99mm heavy machine gun when security detachment is embarked
Aircraft carried	2 × UH-46 Sea Knight helicopters

Cargo capacity of the each ship was approximately 7,000 tons in five holds, with hangar space for two UH-46 helicopters.

Brief history

1981 line drawing of a Mars-class combat stores ship

Vessels in the class were constructed in mid-1960s, while early units commissioned in the late 1960s served in the Vietnam War. The vessels supported combat operations off the coast.

These ships continued to support naval units during their time in service in US Navy until the mid-1990s. Mars-class ships were present and supported operations in Red Sea and the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. By the mid-1990s, five of the seven ships were transferred to the Military Sealift Command.

Ships

The ships of the class are named for American resort and significant historical towns/cities.

• Mars (AFS-1) – decommissioned 1998; sunk as a SINKEX target off Hawaii, 2006
• Sylvania (AFS-2) – decommissioned, 26 May 1994; James River, Virginia, National Defense Reserve Fleet, scrapped 2012.
• Niagara Falls (AFS-3) – transferred to Military Sealift Command, September 1994, served with Military Sealift Command until 1998, sunk as target 14 July 2012.
• White Plains (AFS-4) – decommissioned, 1995; inactivated 2002, sunk as SINKEX target in RIMPAC exercise,
• Concord (AFS-5) – transferred to Military Sealift Command, 15 October 1992, served with Military Sealift Command until 1998, inactivated in 2008, sunk as part of a SINKEX exercise.
• San Diego (AFS-6) – transferred to Military Sealift Command, 1993; scrapped, 2006
• San Jose (AFS-7) – transferred to Military Sealift Command, 1993; inactivated January 2010, scrapped 2012.

Photos

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  USNS Niagara Falls (T-AFS-3)
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  USNS Concord (T-AFS-5)
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  USNS San Jose (T-AFS-7)