Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Sylvania (AFS-2)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - MIke - Yankee - Uniform
NMYU
Voice Call Sign -Debark-Tango (1971-73)
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2)
Second Row - Navy "E" Ribbon (2) - Navy Expeditionary Medal (4-Lebanon) - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Third Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Lebanon) - Southwest Asia Service Medal (2) - Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
Mars Class Combat Stores Ship:
  • Laid down, 18 August 1962, at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, CA.
  • Launched, 15 August 1963
  • Commissioned, USS Sylvania (AFS-2), 11 July 1964, CAPT. Bernard A. Lienhard USN, in command
  • Decommissioned, 26 May 1994
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 5 January 1995
  • Title transferred to the Maritime Administration, 28 July 2001, for lay up the Maritime Administration Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA.
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 1 October 2012, for $1,241,352, to All Star Metals, Brownsville, TX., removed 17 October 2012
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,200 t.(lt) 17,500 t.(fl)
    Length 581'
    Beam 79'
    Draft 27' (max.)
    Speed 20 kts.
    Complement
    (USS) 486
    (MSC) 49 Navy, 125 civilian merchant seamen
    Aircraft two UH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
    Armament
    two twin 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    two Close In Weapons Systems (CIWS)
    four .50 cal. machine guns
    Propulsion
    one De Laval turbine
    three Babcock and Wilcox boilers, 580psi
    single propeller
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Sylvania 103k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway, circa spring 1964, probably during builders trials prior to commissioning.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1968.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Aldebaran 89k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) and USS Aldebaran (AF-10) conducting underway replenishment exercises at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 25 September 1964, their shakedown cruises.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, January 1965.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Sylvania 346k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) moored at Genoa, Italy, 14 May 1965. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Springfield 278k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) delivering stores while underway alongside USS Springfield (CLG-7) in the Mediterranean Sea, circa 1965. William C. Swisher
    Sylvania 647k Series of four photos depicting USS Sylvania (AFS-2) during an underway replenishment operation with USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42 and USS Charles W. Ware (DD-865) in the Mediterranean Sea, in 1965 William C. Swisher USN CTR3 USS Springfield1962-66
    Sylvania 467k
    Sylvania 452k
    Sylvania 794k
    Sylvania 124k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway during the mid-1960s, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 77k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) conducting a (VERTREP) Vertical Replenishment employing her two Boeing (UH-46D) helicopters while underway in the Mediterranean Sea, late-1960s. In the distance USS Shasta (AE-6) is conducting a (RAS) Replenishment at Sea with two destroyers. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 105k One of the two (UH-46) helicopters deployed with USS Sylvania (AFS-2) conducting a (VERTREP) Vertical Replenishment while underway in the Mediterranean Sea, late-1960s. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 121k Netted pallets of material sit on the flight deck of USS Sylvania (AFS-2) ready for transfer via VERTREP in the Mediterranean Sea, late 1960s. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    CVA-38 + AFS-2 + CVA-62 100k

    On 25 June 1968 the U.S. Sixth Fleet celebrated its 20th anniversary with a close formation, an air power demonstration, a 20-gun salute and a pass-in-review. The crews of (top to bottom)USS Independence (CVA-62), USS Sylvania (AFS-2) and USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) spell out "POWER FOR PEACE", Sixth Fleet's motto.

    		 Rebecca Parnell
    Sylvania 112k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) entering Grand Harbour, Valletta, in 1968.
    Photo © R.R.J. Payia, Malta.    		 Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 144k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) in dry dock at Valletta, Malta, 27 November to 11 December 1968. Sylvania was drydocked for hull scrapping and painting. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 95k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) leaving Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta in April 1968. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 62k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) utilizing her two (UH-46) helicopters to conduct a VERTREP with an aircraft carrier, Mediterranean Sea, 1968. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 549k Bow on view of USS Sylvania (AFS-2) taken from one of her (UH-46) helicopters during a VERTREP in the Mediterranean Sea, 1968. Photo by Jim Gabler SK2 USS Sylvania
    Sylvania 123k Recovered wreckage of an HC-6 helicopter assigned to USS Sylvania (AFS-2) during her Mediterranean deployment in the Spring of 1969. When the helicopter arrived over the ship to make a delivery the front rotor blade hit one of the ships antennas. The Dets second helicopter rescued the crew from the water. The crew had only cuts, and bruises. A Navy Salvage ship later recovered the helicopter from the ocean and this was what was left. If anyone recalls the crew names of that morning please contact Barry Buchanan at bbrandd@roadrunner.com. Barry Buchanan HC-6
    Sylvania 148k
    Sylvania 114k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, April 1970.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Sylvania 73k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway in the Mediterranean Sea, date unknown. © Richard Leonhardt
    Sylvania 92k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway, date and location unknown. Richard Leonhardt
    Sylvania 128k (from right to left) USS Sylvania (AFS-2), USS Concord (AFS-5) and USS San Diego (AFS-6) underway, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Sylvania 56k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) in port, Halifax, Nova Scotia, date unknown. Photo by Peter Wilson
    Sylvania 141k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) in a Mediterranean moor, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, August 1971.    		 Stanley C. Svec
    Sylvania 85k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway in the Mediterranean Sea, August 1976 © Richard Leonhardt
    Sylvania 85k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) in port. Barcelona, Spain, 1 March 1977. Note, as of the date of this photo, Sylvania still retained her original four twin 3"/50 gun mounts, with Mk.56 directors, while her SPS-40 air search radar had been removed. Photo by Fabio Peņa
    Sylvania 72k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) in port. Barcelona, Spain, 11 March 1977. USS Rigel (T-AF 58) is alongside, her masts and superstructure (note the MSC crest on her funnel) are partly visible. Photo by Fabio Peņa
    CV-43 Coral Sea 292k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) replenishes USS Coral Sea (CV-43), circa 1981–83. Note the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter between the two ships (right of the photo) transferring stores. James E Lockard USN Retired
    Sylvania 85k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) preparing to get underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1986.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Sylvania 71k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1986.    		 Tom Langford
    Sylvania 67k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) underway during a VERTREP, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Sylvania 427k USS Sylvania (AFS-2) moored pierside at Genoa, Italy, 9 May 1992. Photo by Carlo Martinelli
    Iwo Jima 1088k
    An aerial view of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard looking west/northwest, 30 October 1995. The shipyard closed, 30 September 1995, but the Navy Intermediate Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) continues to store decommissioned ships. Vessels visible , left to right: the battleships USS Iowa (BB-61), and USS Wisconsin (BB-64) at the DD wharf; USS Sylvania (AFS-2), USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) and USS Savannah (AOR-4) at pier 5; the aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CV-59) and USS Saratoga (CV-60); at pier 4; the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) and USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) at pier 2. In the back pool is the heavy cruiser USS Des Moines (CA-134) and numerous destroyers and frigates.DOD photo # DN-SC-97-00422 PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (30 October 1995), a US Navy photo by Robert J. Sitar, now in the collections of Defense Imagery.mil.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Sylvania 76k USS Sylvania (AFS-2), USS Milwaukee (AOR-2), USS Savannah (AOR-4), and USS Kalamazoo (AOR-6) moored together at Wharf L, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, in November 1999. Photo from "Warship Boneyards" by Kit and Carolyn Bonner (Author's Collection). Robert Hurst
    MARAD James River Group Reserve Fleet
    Cape Mendocino 51k From left to right; SS Cape Mendocino (AKR-5064) ex USS Shenandoah (AD-44) and ex USS Sylvania (AFS-2), rafted together in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, VA., 8 April 2009 Photo by Mike Hibbard
    Cape Mendocino 103k

    For more photos and information about USS Sylvania, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • Navy Fact File - Combat Stores Ships - T-AFS
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Combat Stores Ship (AFS) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 7 June 2013