About this Unit
USS Sylvania (AFS-2) was a Mars-class combat stores ship commissioned by the United States Navy in 1964. Designed to deliver food, ammunition, and other supplies to ships at sea, Sylvania played a crucial logistical role in multiple operations, including support during the Vietnam War and later in the Mediterranean with the U.S. Sixth Fleet. Throughout her service, the ship participated in numerous replenishment missions, enabling sustained naval operations far from home ports. After nearly three decades of service, USS Sylvania was decommissioned in 1994 and later struck from the Naval Vessel Register.
Historical Facts
• Commissioning and Class: USS Sylvania (AFS-2) was commissioned on 11 July 1964 as the second ship in the Mars-class combat stores ships, designed to provide underway replenishment of supplies to U.S. Navy ships at sea.
• Name Origin: The ship was named after Sylvania Mountains, a range straddling the Nevada-California border, following the Navy tradition of naming supply ships after mountains.
• Vietnam War Service: Sylvania made multiple deployments to the Western Pacific, supporting U.S. operations during the Vietnam War by delivering food, ammunition, and general stores to combat ships operating off the coast.
• Cold War Operations: Throughout the Cold War, Sylvania was a vital logistics link in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, often participating in exercises and supporting fleet operations against the backdrop of superpower tensions.
• Lebanon Crisis (1983): USS Sylvania played a support role in the U.S. Navy’s operations during the Lebanese Civil War, providing essential supplies to ships off the coast of Beirut in 1983.
• Unique Capabilities: Sylvania was equipped with advanced underway replenishment gear and helicopters, allowing her to transfer supplies both by connected replenishment (CONREP) and vertical replenishment (VERTREP).
• Operation Desert Storm: The ship participated in Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91, supplying U.S. and allied naval forces in the Persian Gulf during the liberation of Kuwait.
• Homeports: Sylvania was homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, for most of her career, but also operated from other East Coast locations as needed for deployments and exercises.
• Decommissioning: After nearly 30 years of service, USS Sylvania was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 May 1994.
• Final Fate: In 2008, after being laid up in the reserve fleet for many years, Sylvania was sold for scrapping, ending her long history of service to the U.S. Navy and its allies.
