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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AFS-6 / T-AFS-6 San Diego

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 (4-Lebanon, 1-Libya) - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2-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 (MSC) 49 Navy, 125 civilian merchant seamen
    Aircraft two UH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
    Armament
    two twin 3"/50 DP gun mounts
    Propulsion
    three 580psi Babcock and Wilcox boilers
    one De Laval Turbine
    single shaft
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS San Diego (AFS-6)
    San Diego 80k 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.
    San Diego 55k San Diego (AFS-6) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Tom Langford
    San Diego 183k San Diego (AFS-6) being docked/undocked with the help of Marinette (YTB-791) and Oshkosh (YTB-751) at Naval Station Norfolk, VA, date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1972     		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    San Diego 40k San Diego (AFS-6) at anchor, date and place unknown. .
    San Diego 20k San Diego (AFS-6) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    San Diego 90k 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 Peņa
    San Diego 77k San Diego (AFS-6) at Barcelona, Spain, 29 March 1983. Photo by Fabio Peņa
    San Diego 72k San Diego (AFS-6) at Barcelona, Spain, 29 March 1983. Photo by Fabio Peņa
    Sylvania 128k (from right to left) Sylvania (AFS-2), Concord (AFS-5) and San Diego (AFS-6) underway, date and place unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Sirius 58k Sirius (T-AFS-8) downloading to San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983. 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 carnalities.
    US Navy photo    		 T.J. Tropea RM1 USN USNS Sirius
    Sirius 74k Sirius (T-AFS-8) downloading to San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983 prior to entering Braswell Shipyard, South Carolina to improve her unrep capabilities.
    US Navy photo    		 T.J. Tropea RM1 USN USNS Sirius
    Sirius 80k Sirius (T-AFS-8) downloading to San Diego (AFS-6) while underway, circa 1983, prior to entering Braswell Shipyard, South Carolina to improve her unrep capabilities.
    US Navy photo    		 T.J. Tropea RM1 USN USNS Sirius
    San Diego 67k San Diego (AFS-6) underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
    USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6)
    San Diego 66k San Diego (T-AFS-6) moored at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, PA., 22 October 2004. Gil Bohannon, USS Torsk Historian
    San Diego 147k Ex-San Diego (AFS-6) at ESCO, Brownsville, TX., awaiting scrapping, circa May 2006.
    Photo ©Michael Martin Brownsville, TX., 2006.    		 TJ Tropea with permission of Michael Martin
    View the San Diego (AFS-6)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Navy Fact File - Combat Stores Ships - T-AFS
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Combat Stores Ship (AFS) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 8 February 2008