USS Sylvania (AFS-2)

• 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.