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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6)
ex
USS San Diego (AFS-6) (1969 - 1993)

International Call Sign:
November - November - Charlie - Delta NNCD

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation (1)
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2) - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (5)
Second Row - Navy Expeditionary Medal (Lebanon, Libya) - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Lebanon)
Third Row - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Armed Forces Service Medal - Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

Mars Class Combat Stores Ship:

Laid down, 11 March 1967, at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, CA.

Launched, 13 April 1968

Commissioned, USS San Diego (AFS-6), 24 May 1969, CAPT. John W. Wells in command

Decommissioned and simultaneously placed in service by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) as USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6), 11 August 1993

Place out of service, 10 December 1997

Laid up at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF), Philadelphia, PA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 8 September 2003

Final Disposition, scrapping contract awarded to ESCO, Brownsville, TX., 9 April 2006, removed from NISMF Philadelphia, 17 May 2006

Specifications:
Displacement 9,200 t.(lt) 15,900-18,663 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

USN (As Built) four twin 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

USNS unarmed

Propulsion

three 580 psi Babcock and Wilcox boilers

one De Laval Turbine

single propeller

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS San Diego (AFS-6)
	1292k	San Diego (AFS-6) launching, 13 April 1968, at National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, CA. US Navy	Bill Gonyo
	80k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway at San Diego as she departs for her new homeport at Norfolk, VA., date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1969.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	55k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Tom Langford
	183k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** being docked/undocked with the help of Marinette (YTB-791) and Oshkosh (YTB-757) at Naval Station Norfolk, VA, date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1972	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	40k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** at anchor, date and location unknown.
	878k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** Med-moored in the port of Genoa, Italy, 22 April 1975.	Photo by Carlo Martinelli
	20k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo
	90k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6) at Barcelona, Spain, 29 March 1983. Note, by this time San Diego**'s armament had been modified, retaining only the two enclosed twin 3"/50 gun mounts forward, while removing the two open mounts abaft the stack (note the empty gun tubs), along with the Mk.56 GFCS and an SPS-40 air search radar.	Photo by Fabio Peña
	77k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** at Barcelona, Spain, 29 March 1983.	Photo by Fabio Peña
	72k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** at Barcelona, Spain, 29 March 1983.	Photo by Fabio Peña
	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.
	58k	*USNS Sirius* (T-AFS-8) downloading to USS San Diego (AFS-6)** while underway, circa 1983. USNS Sirius was returning to the US to undergo a yard period at Braswell Shipyard in South Carolina, at which time she was converted to a fully capable AFS, receiving her helo hanger and enhanced unrep capabilities. US Navy photo	T.J. Tropea RM1 USN USNS Sirius
	74k	*USNS Sirius* (T-AFS-8) downloading to USS San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983 prior to Sirius** entering Braswell Shipyard, South Carolina to improve her unrep capabilities. US Navy photo	T.J. Tropea RM1 USN USNS Sirius
	80k	*USNS Sirius* (T-AFS-8) downloading to USS San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983, prior Sirius** to entering Braswell Shipyard, South Carolina to improve her unrep capabilities. US Navy photo	T.J. Tropea RM1 USN USNS Sirius
	73k	*USNS Sirius* (T-AFS-8) downloading to USS San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983, prior to Sirius** entering Braswell Shipyard, South Carolina to improve her unrep capabilities. US Navy photo	T.J. Tropea RM1 USN Ret. USNS Sirius
	53k	*USNS Sirius* (T-AFS-8) downloading to USS San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983, prior to Sirius** entering Braswell Shipyard, South Carolina to improve her unrep capabilities. US Navy photo	T.J. Tropea RM1 USN Ret. USNS Sirius
	67k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
	600k	Starboard bow view of *USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway off Cape Henry, VA., 22 March 1988. DoDMedia VIRIN: DN-SC-90-02296, a US Navy photo by PH2 T, Beveridge	Robert Hurst
	103k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** under way, date and location unknown.	Tommy Trampp
	37k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** moored pierside at San Diego, CA., date unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	78k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** in bound from sea at San Diego, CA., date unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
09520623	237k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway off San Diego, CA., date unknown. ©George Barber	Nicholas Tiberio
09520622	234k	*USS San Diego* (AFS-6)** underway off San Diego, CA., date unknown. ©George Barber	Nicholas Tiberio
USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6)
	91k	Ex-*USNS San Diego* (T-AFS-6), ex- USS Boulder (LST-1190) and ex-USS Kidd (DDG-993)** moored at the Preble Wharf at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in November 1999. Photo from "Warship Boneyards" by Kit and Carolyn Bonner, authors collection.	Robert Hurst
	66k	Ex-*USNS San Diego* (T-AFS-6)** moored at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, PA., 22 October 2004.	Gil Bohannon, USS Torsk Historian
	147k	Ex-*USNS San Diego* (T-AFS-6)** at ESCO, Brownsville, TX., awaiting scrapping, circa May 2006. Photo ©Michael Martin Brownsville, TX., 2006.	TJ Tropea with permission of Michael Martin
09520621	238k	One of *USS San Diego* (AFS-6)*'s Mark 33 Mod 13 3-inch/50-caliber gun mounts sits on a flatbed railroad car. The mount was removed from the ship and sent to Naval Ordnance Station, Louisville, KY for overhaul. Photo by Rudolph Spencer at Naval Ordnance Station, Louisville, 1 August 1987*	Yu Chu

For more photos and information about USS / USNS San Diego, see;
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
Addendum to Ship's Early History by Nicholas Mahouski Jr.
Postal Covers related to the ship

Commanding Officers
01	CAPT. Wells, John William, USN (USNA 1946)	24 May 1969 - 18 August 1970
02	CAPT. Girard, Jean Louis	18 August 1970 - 11 January 1972
03	CAPT. Porter, Kenneth Albert, USN (USNA 1949)	11 January 1972 - 16 March 1972
04	CAPT. Wells, John Thompson, USN	16 March 1972 - 20 April 1972
05	CAPT. Fellowes Jr., Frederick Gale :RADM	20 April 1972 - 4 March 1974
06	CAPT. Burns, John A.	4 March 1974 - 31 October 1975
07	CAPT. Gooden, Richard Owen, USN	31 October 1975 - 1 December 1977
08	CAPT. Primeau, Don Gene :RADM	1 December 1977 - 22 February 1979
09	CAPT. Zipperer, William Ray	22 February 1979 - 31 July 1980
10	CAPT. Leuschner Jr., Robert Lee :RADM	31 July 1980 - 25 March 1982
11	CAPT. Doolittle, John Beecher	25 March 1982 - 15 March 1984
12	CAPT. Sanders, Tommy Louis	15 March 1984 - 31 October 1985
13	CAPT. Smith, Bernard John, USN (USNA 1965) :RADM	31 October 1985 - 17 April 1987
14	CAPT. Ellis Jr., Robert Lee, USN (USNA 1966) :RADM	17 April 1987 - 31 October 1988
15	CAPT. Copeland Jr., William Winston (Mad Dog) :RADM	31 October 1988 - 30 April 1990
16	CAPT. Beard, Timothy Robert, USN (USNA 1966) :RADM	30 April 1990 - 11 October 1991
17	CAPT. Suggs, Ralph Edward, USN :RADM	11 October 1991 - 11 August 1993


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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Last Updated 22 July 2022

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6)ex USS San Diego (AFS-6) (1969 - 1993)

USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6)
ex
USS San Diego (AFS-6) (1969 - 1993)