Mars (AFS 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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The Start IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 19, 1963 NO. 1587-63 Oxford 75131 (Info.) Oxford 73189 (Copies) NAVY TO COMMISSION FIR.ST COMBAT STORES SHIP DEC. 21 The Navv will commission the combat stores ship MARS (AFS- 1) at the I ' .S. Naval Base, Los Angeles, California, at 2 P.M. (PST) on December 21, 1963. Principal speaker for the event will be Rear Admiral William D. Irvin, Commander, Service Force, Pacific Fleet. The MARS, first of a new class stores ship, and the SYLVANIA (AFS-2), were authorized in the Fiscal Year 1961 Shipbuilding Program. They are designed to combine the functions of the pre- sent stores ship (AF), stores issue ship (AKS) and aviation supply ship (AVS). They will carry one-half to one third the provisions carried by an AF, about the same amount supplies carried by an AVS. MARS is 581 feet long, has a beam of 79 feet, and will have a full load displacement of 16,100 tons. She will be armed with four 3- inch 50-caliber twin g m mounts and her crew will consist of 25 officers and 378 enlisted men. Her first commanding officer will be Captain Russell C. Medley of San Diego, California. Ships of the AFS class are named for small United States com- munities with the same names as astronomical bodies, the AFS-1 is named for the community of Mars, Pennsylvania, and is the third Naval vessel named MARS. MARS and SYLVANIA are the only combat stores ships autho- rized to date. SYLVANIA is scheduled for commissioning in June 1964. END Department Of The Navy Office Of The Secretary Washington SECNAV NOTICE 5030 SECNAV 5030 Op-09891 Ser 3076 27 August 1962 From: Secretary of the Navy To: Distribution List Subj: Assignment of names to naval ships 1. Purpose. This Notice advises addressees of the ap- proved names for two combat store ships authorized to be constructed. 2. Classification and Name. The following classifica- tions and names are hereby effective: CLASSIFICATION NAME AFS-1 MARS AFS-2 SYLVANIA 3. Cancellation. This Notice is canceled when no longer needed by addressees, and for record purposes on 30 No- vember 1962. FRED KORTH

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The Ships USS Mars (AC-6) SS MARS (AFS 1) is the second ship to bear the name MARS. The possibility that she might be the third MARS is no small point of debate among naval scholars. Some records indicate a Revolutionary War galley was named MARS. This one gun boar, with a length of 52 feet and a crew of 28, was built in Charleston, South Carolina in 1798. Only five such ships were built in Charleston, and Congress mandated that one was to bear the name of that city. The weight of evidence strongly supports the view that MARS and CHARLESTON were the same ship during construction. It is a near certainty that CHARLESTON is the only name under which the vessel ever sailed. The first MARS was built in 1908 and designated AC-6. This MARS conducted transfers of coal and scrap iron on the East coast. In 1914 she participated in the occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, when local strongman Victoria Huerta shot his way to the top of the Mexican government. Shortly thereafter, a Gernnan steamer arrived off the coast of Vera Cruz carrying a large shipment of arms for Huerta. MARS served as a component of the Naval blockade that deprived arms to the revolutionary government. Later, the cool-carrying MARS became a troop carrier in World War I. In addition to her normal cargo, MARS served as a transport for American Forces bound for Europe. She made three such trips to the European Theater between 1917 and 1918. USS MARS (AR-16) is the MARS that never was. In 1945 her keel was laid but, due to the end of World War II, her contract was canceled. Therefore the present MARS is the second, might be the third, and could have been the fourth ship named MARS.

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Building A Legend 1. First Inner Bottom Aligned 2 Inner Bottom Section Frames 100- 137 3 Inner Bottom. Frames 88- 148: Stiell Plating. Frames 54-88 7 Looking FWD. Turn of Bilge Sections AFT Frame 145 8 Loolang AFT 18 AUG 1962 9 Looking FWD. Stern Casting Landed, Bulk- heads 197-171 - . m9 , ■ 13 Looking FWD. 4 OCT 1962. 2nd Deck Frames 1 16- 145 14. Looking FWD. Upper Stern Casting Land- ed 15 Looking FWD. Newly Installed Hangar Doors and Handrails are visible on 7 MA Y 1963