USS San Jose (AFS 7).
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Class: MARS (AFS 1).
Design: SCB Project Nos. 208, 705.65, and 705.66
Displacement (tons): 9,852 light, 17,381 full
Dimensions (feet): 581' oa, 530' pp x 79' e/wl x 27' max nav
Armament: 4-3"/50T; (all but 4: 1979) 2-3"/50T, (4: 1985, 2: 1990) 2-3"/50T, 2-CIWS
Accommodations: 42 officers, 445 enlisted
Speed (kts.): 21
Propulsion (HP): 22,000
Machinery: Steam turbine, 3 boilers (600psi), 1 screw
Construction:
| AFS | Name | Ord | Builder | Keel | Launch | Comm |
| 1 | MARS | 9 May 1961 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 5 May 1962 | 15 Jun 1963 | 21 Dec 1963 |
| 2 | SYLVANIA | 19 Jan 1962 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 18 Aug 1962 | 15 Aug 1963 | 11 Jul 1964 |
| 3 | NIAGARA FALLS | 1 Apr 1964 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 22 May 1965 | 26 Mar 1966 | 29 Apr 1967 |
| 4 | WHITE PLAINS | 18 Dec 1964 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 2 Oct 1965 | 23 Jul 1966 | 23 Nov 1968 |
| 5 | CONCORD | 18 Dec 1964 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 26 Mar 1966 | 17 Dec 1966 | 27 Nov 1968 |
| 6 | SAN DIEGO | 28 Dec 1965 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 11 Mar 1967 | 13 Apr 1968 | 24 May 1969 |
| 7 | SAN JOSE | 7 Jul 1967 | GD/Nat. Steel, San Diego | 8 Mar 1969 | 13 Dec 1969 | 23 Oct 1970 |
Disposition:
| AFS | Name | T | Decomm/Inact | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale/Depart |
| 1 | MARS | Tr | 19 Feb 1998/I | 24 May 2004 | 15 Jul 2006 | Target | -- |
| 2 | SYLVANIA | 26 May 1994/D | 5 Jan 1995 | 28 Jul 2001 | MA/T | 17 Oct 2012/D | |
| 3 | NIAGARA FALLS | Tr | 30 Sep 2008/I | 30 Sep 2008 | 14 Jul 2012 | Target | -- |
| 4 | WHITE PLAINS | 17 Apr 1995/D | 24 Aug 1995 | 8 Jul 2002 | Target | -- | |
| 5 | CONCORD | Tr | 18 Aug 2009/I | 18 Aug 2009 | 17 Jul 2012 | Target | -- |
| 6 | SAN DIEGO | Tr | 10 Dec 1997/I | 8 Sep 2003 | 14 Apr 2006 | Navy sale | -- |
| 7 | SAN JOSE | Tr | 27 Jan 2010/I | 27 Jan 2010 | 2012 | Navy sale | -- |
Class Notes:
Approved characteristics for new construction stores issue ships (AKS), SCB Project No. 115, were promulgated on 22 December 1952 with a final change on 25 September 1957 and approved characteristics for a new construction store ship (AF), SCB Project No. 156, were promulgated on 28 November 1955 with a final change on 25 March 1957. These projects were superseded by the AFS, which absorbed the functions of the AF and AKS along with those of the AVS.
On 20 October 1958 the Chairman of the Ship Characteristics Board requested a feasibility and cost study in connection with a design study for a proposed combat store ship (AFS). An internal BUSHIPS memorandum dated 14 September 1959 stated that BUSHIPS had been completely unsuccessful in efforts to make a MARINER conversion meet the characteristics proposed for the AFS. A new design was therefore developed. Approved characteristics for a Combat Store Ship (AFS), SCB Project No. 208, were promulgated on 12 January 1960 and updated on 20 July 1962, for FY 1964 on 25 March 1963, as SCB Project No. 705.65 on 22 November 1963, and as SCB Project No. 705.66 on 12 Feb 1965 with a single change on 13 August 1965. The preliminary design for AFS 1 was completed on 4 March 1960 and the contract design was approved on 17 January 1961.
The contract design for the first Combat Store Ship, AFS 1, was completed on 16 January 1961. This was the second multiple-product replenishment ship designed by the Navy, the first being AOE 1. The basic concept of the AFS was that as a unit of an underway replenishment group it would have the capability of resupplying a task force at sea on a 'one stop' basis with stores, provisions, and spare parts necessary for sustained operations. The AFS carried a combined cargo load of dry and refrigerated provisions normally carried by an AF, bulk and bin and drawer GSM (General Stores Materal) and technical spares material normally carried by an AKS, and aviation bulk and bin and drawer technical spares material normally carried by an AVS. With very few exceptions commercial standards were invoked in the design and procurement of both hull and machinery components. The replenishment at sea system was similar to that on AOE 1, featuring M-frames with sliding block and constant tensioning devices for all transfer rigs. The January 1961 design made no reference to the FAST (Fast Automatic Shuttle Transfer) system, then in the early stages of development, though at least AFS 1 and AFS 2 would have received it. (See the AOE 1 class for a description and history of FAST.) The January 1961 design also included six port stations and five starboard stations on the basis of providing optimum alignment with carriers to port and smaller ships to starboard, although the sixth port station alongside the helicopter hangar was deleted before construction. (The SCB approved the departure from its specification of four stations on each side.) In the January 1961 design all cargo holds were serviced by two or three mechanically powered, reversible, vertical lifting devices which included a large elevator for aircraft engines and control surfaces, heavy duty pallet conveyors, and package conveyors. These delivered cargo at rapid rates to the main deck within an enclosed cargo deckhouse on the main deck that extended along the centerline over the five cargo holds. A clear fore and aft enclosed fork lift truck passageway through the superstructure allowed reaching any replenishment station with any type of cargo. Pre-packaged pallet loads of reefer and dry provisions were transferred to the pallet conveyors in the holds by battery operated fork lift trucks. The design had 3"/50 guns side by side on the bow and at the after end of the midships superstructure, the latter being located to permit arcs of fire parallel to the centerline and to outboard without interference from the M-frames. The designed displacement of the hull was 17,323 tons full load at a draft of 25.5', and the final full load displacement in the signed contract design (January 1961) was 16,144 tons (9,232 tons light) which made the mean draft 23.95'.
BUSHIPS on 4 June 1965 selected the single FY 1966 AKA (AKA 117) as a prototype ship for machinery plant automation. (See the AKA 113 class for details.) This program provided for bridge throttle control, centralized operation, monitoring, and alarming in the machinery space, automatic bell logging, automatic auxiliary machinery plants, and remote control of the steering machinery. By January 1966 the FY 1967 AFS (AFS 7) was also being considered as a candidate for machinery plant automation, and by May 1966 the FY 1965-66 ships (AFS 4-6) were also candidates. A major payoff of automation was decreased manning, estimated at 27 watch standers in each AFS. The automation of AFS 6 (FY 1966) was directed in October and on 4 November 1966 CNO recommended proceeding with the automation of the FY 1965 ships (AFS 4-5). In the meantime the FAST underway transfer system proved to be a maintenance nightmare and in 1970 its simplified successor, STREAM (Standard Tensioned Replenishment Alongside Method), was satisfactorily evaluated in the Mediterranean by SAN DIEGO (AFS 6).
AFS 3 and 5 lacked the shields on their forward 3" gun mounts. In addition to the armaments shown in the technical section above, AFS 2 and AFS 3 received one MK 25 Sea Sparrow MLS in 1969 (AFS 2) and 1971 (AFS 3) and landed them in 1974. In 1977 the SLQ-32 became the standard USN shipboard ECM system, warning of threat radar signals and able to trigger chaff and weapons firing. The two 3"/50 mounts on the after corners of the main deckhouse were removed in 1979 in all but AFS 4 and basic SLQ-32 antennas intended for auxiliary ships replaced them in at least AFS 4, 6, and 7. In around 1977 the class was also scheduled to receive the Mk 36 Mod 2 SRBOC (Super Rapid Blooming Off board Countermeasures) chaff and decoy launching system. AFS 6 had a temporary (probably prototype) installation by 1979, AFS 4 got the first permanent SRBOC installation in 1980, and AFS 7 followed in 1981. In 1983 the class was scheduled to receive the Mk 16 Mod 1 CIWS Weapon Group with 2 mounts on each ship. The prototype ship AFS 4 received two CIWS mounts by 1984 which she retained (losing her after 3"/50 mounts in the process), and SYLVANIA also received two mounts by 1989 although they were positioned differently.
Ship Notes:
| AFS | Name | MA | Notes |
| 1 | MARS | FY 1961. To MSC 1 Feb 1993. Out of service 19 Feb 1998. Expended as torpedo target 15 Jul 2006 off Hawaii during RIMPAC 2006. | |
| 2 | SYLVANIA | FY 1962. To MA custody 12 Sep 2000. To buyer 17 Oct 2012. | |
| 3 | NIAGARA FALLS | FY 1964. To MSC 23 Sep 1994. Expended as target 14 Jul 2012 off Kauai during RIMPAC 2012. | |
| 4 | WHITE PLAINS | FY 1965. Expended as target 8 Jul 2002 during RIMPAC 2002. | |
| 5 | CONCORD | FY 1965. To MSC 15 Oct 1992. Expended as torpedo target 17 Jul 2012 off Kauai by HMCS VICTORIA during RIMPAC 2012. | |
| 6 | SAN DIEGO | FY 1966. To MSC 11 Aug 1993. Out of service 10 Dec 1997. BU completed 4 Apr 2007 at Brownsville. | |
| 7 | SAN JOSE | FY 1967. To MSC 2 Nov 1993. Towed from Pearl Harbor to Brownsville Dec 2012, completion of dismantlement reported 9 Oct 2013 by All Star Metals LLC. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 5 Aug 2021
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2021
Special sources: NARA: RG 19 Item S-11 Entry P 26 Boxes 4-5; Marvin O. Miller, Designing the U.S. Navy's Underway Replenishment System, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme, Cal., 1996.