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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Mars (AC-6)
ex
 USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) (1900 - 1920)

International Radio Call Sign, 1912:
Nan - Jig - Rush
 NJR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Mexican Service Medal - World War I Victory Medal
Vulcan Class Collier:
  • Laid down, 5 October 1908 at Maryland Steel Co., Sparrows Point, MD.
  • Launched, 10 April 1909
  • Commissioned USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6), 26 August 1909, at Norfolk, VA., Master Arthur B. Randall (Naval Auxiliary Service) in command
  • Decommissioned, 3 July 1912, at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.
  • Recommissioned, 11 December 1912
  • Decommissioned, 15 July 1913
  • Recommissioned, 8 May 1914
  • Designated USS Mars (AC-6), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 27 December 1921
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 26 April 1923
  • Sold, 22 June 1923, for commercial service to John E. Walsh, Boston, MA.
  • Final Disposition, ran aground off Daiquiri, Cuba, and abandoned, 8 November 1924
    Specifications:
    Displacement 11,250 t.
    Length 403'
    Beam 53'
    Draft 24' 8" (mean)
    Speed 12.65 kts.
    Complement 82
    Armament
    four .50 caliber machine guns
    Propulsion
    one vertical triple-expansion steam engine
    four single end coal fired boilers
    two 15Kw 125V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 3,818shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Mars
    09020609    		 51
    Namesake
    Mars - In ancient Roman religion and myth, Mars was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was the son of Jupiter and he was the most prominent of the military gods in the religion of the Roman army. Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him, and in October, which began the season for military campaigning and ended the season for farming.(Wikipedia)
    Statue of Mars from the Forum of Nerva, 2nd century CE, based on an Augustan-era original that in turn used a Hellenistic Greek model of the 4th century BCE. Capitoline Museums in Rome, Italy/(Wikipedia)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Mars 158k USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, during the 1911 Naval Review, 3 Oct. 1911.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command., Photo # NH 46409.    		 Mike Green
    Mars 358k USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) and USS Abarenda (Collier #13) moored skin to skin at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA., 11 Novmber 1913.
    US National Archives Identifier: 52556587    		 Mike Mohl
    Mars 320k USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) moored pierside at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA in 1916.
    US Library of Congress photo.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Mars
    19-N-12233    		 109k USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) moored at Washington Navy Yard, 7 April 1916.
    US National Archives, RG-19-N box 9, Photo # 19-N-12233 and U.S. National Archives, RG-19-A-1., Photo No. 19-N-16-1-10 US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Mars
    19-N-16-1-10    		 124k
    Mars 101k USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) at anchor off Acapulco, Mexico, before World War I.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command., Photo # NH 92200, courtesy of Thomas P. Naughton, 1973     		Mike Green
    Mars 106k USS Mars (Fuel Ship #6) at anchor off Spalato (Split), Croatia in the Adriatic, circa 1919.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command., Photo # NH 389, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Mars 75k USS Mars (AC-6) dry docked at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA. 16 March 1921. Photographed by Crosby, "Naval Photographer", 324 First Street, Portsmouth, VA.
    US Navy photo # NH 105183 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, donation of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, 1970, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Mars (AC-6)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01MASTER, Randall, Arthur Borland (Naval Auxiliary Service)26 August 1909 - 1910
     Decommissioned3 July 1912 - 11 December 1912
    02MASTER, Randall, Albert Borland (Naval Auxiliary Service)11 December 1912 - 15 July 1913
     Decommissioned15 July 1913 - 8 May 1914
    03MASTER, Randall, Albert Borland (Naval Auxiliary Service)8 May 1914 - 17 April 1916
    04MASTER, Smith, James Downing, (Naval Auxiliary Service)17 April 1916 - 16 June 1919
    05LCDR, Sheridan, Philip Howard, USNRF16 June 1919 - 30 November 1920
    06LCDR, Herndon, Preston, USNRF30 November 1920 - 18 December 1921
    07LCDR, Terhune, Harold Le France, USNRF19 December 1921 - 27 December 1921
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 31 July 2020