USNS Saturn (T-AFS-10)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

RFA ''Stromness'' (A344) was a fleet stores ship which served the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ...
until sold to the
U.S. Navy's The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the worl ...
Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
in 1983. While in the service of British forces, it saw service in the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
. After the sale to the United States, it was renamed USNS ''Saturn'' (T-AFS-10) and acted as a combat stores ship until it was deactivated in 2009; it was able to supply two other ships at once. In 2010, it was sunk in an exercise by the U.S.
Carrier Strike Group Two } Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG-2 or COMCARSTRKGRU 2) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier is the strike group's current flagship. As of Aug 2020, other units assigned to Carrier Strik ...
off the coast of North Carolina.


Construction

Originally known as RFA ''Stromness'' (A344), the vessel was built at Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend as Yard Nr 2017,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, for the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. She was laid down on 5 October 1965 and launched on 16 September 1966.


RFA operational history

In 1973 she brought the expedition members of the
Joint Services The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...
Egmont Islands Expedition (JSEI) from the
Egmont Atoll Egmont Islands (also known as Egmont Atoll, or Six Iles) is an uninhabited atoll administered by the United Kingdom. They are one of the few emerged coral atolls that make up the Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. This small atol ...
back to
Gan, Addu Atoll Gan ( Div: ގަން) is the southernmost island of Addu Atoll (also known as Seenu Atoll), as well as the southernmost island of the Maldives. It is relatively large by Maldive standards. The origin of the word "Gan" is in the Sanskrit word "Gr ...
after their mission was over. Led by Sqn Leader "Dickie" Bird RAF, it was the first
scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...
expedition in the
Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...
. Following its success, a second expedition was undertaken to Danger Island the following year. In 1982, ''Stromness'' saw service during the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
, where she carried over 400 troops of
45 Commando 45 Commando Royal Marines (pronounced "four-five commando") is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of th ...
Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
to the beach landing in San Carlos Water.


Sale to the U.S. Navy

In 1983 ''Stromness'' was sold to the United States Navy. She was placed into non-commissioned service with Military Sealift Command and renamed USNS ''Saturn'' (T-AFS-10).


Military Sealift Command Mission

''Saturn'' was one of five combat stores ships operated by Military Sealift Command. She provided fuel, food, ammunition and ocean towing services to U.S. Navy ships around the world. ''Saturn'' carried virtually every type of food and supply needed by Navy ships. ''Saturn'' carried spare and repair parts for other ships and aircraft and also had a limited capability to transfer fuel to other Navy ships at sea. Supplies and fuel are transferred to other ships using lines and hoses suspended above the water to another ship as the ships move forward at the same speed and sometimes less than 50 feet apart. ''Saturn'' was capable of replenishing two ships at the same time, one on either side, using this side-by-side technique. Dry stores were also transferred by using
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s to lift large cargo nets and pallets loaded with supplies and parts. ''Saturn'' had elevators and mobile equipment for handling stores internally on the ship. Helicopters were not assigned to ''Saturn'' on a full-time basis, but flew aboard for extended periods of time while the ship was at sea. Civilian Mariners (CIVMARS) on board USNS ''Saturn'' were a vital part of the Military Sealift Command (MSC) Fleet. Their areas of expertise encompass a wide variety of occupations ranging primarily from the engineering, deck and supply departments. Final complement was approximately 120 personnel. Tour lengths were 4 months in duration with an extension option available. Enlisted ratings on board included Operations Specialists, Information Systems Technicians, Electronics Technicians, Personnelmen and Storekeepers. Final tour length for enlisted military members aboard ''Saturn'' was 12 months. Officers served up to a two-year tour.


''Saturn'' operational history

The ''Saturn'' was deactivated on 6 April 2009 and sunk as a
target ship A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammuniti ...
for weapons in a sinking exercise (SINKEX) by ships and aircraft of the
George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group } Carrier Strike Group 2 (CSG-2 or COMCARSTRKGRU 2) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group, tracing its history originally to 1931. The aircraft carrier is the strike group's current flagship. As of Aug 2020, other units assigned to Carrier Strik ...
off the coast of North Carolina on 27 October 2010.


References

*
USNS ''Saturn '' (T-AFS 10)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stromness Ness-class combat stores ships Ships built on the River Tyne 1966 ships Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom Sirius-class combat stores ships Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Ships sunk as targets Ships built by Swan Hunter Maritime incidents in 2010