USS Niagara Falls

History
United States
Name	USS Niagara Falls
Namesake	The city of Niagara Falls, New York
Builder	National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego
Laid down	22 May 1965
Launched	26 March 1966
Commissioned	29 April 1967
Decommissioned	September 1994
Homeport	San Diego, CA Sasebo, Japan Alameda, CA ( – Sep 1983) Guam, (1983–1994)
Nickname(s)	The Fighting Falls
Fate	Transferred to Military Sealift Command, 23 September 1994.
Name	USNS Niagara Falls
In service	23 September 1994
Out of service	30 September 2008
Homeport	Guam, (1994–2008)
Nickname(s)	Fighting Falls
Fate	Sunk as a Target
General characteristics
Class and type	Mars-class combat stores ship
Displacement	17,500 long tons (17,781 t) full load
Length	581 ft (177.1 m)
Beam	79 ft (24.1 m)
Draft	27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsion	3 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 1 × De Laval turbine, 1 shaft
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	As USS : 480–530 (with HC-5/3 Air Detachment) As USNS : 49 Navy, 125 civilian merchant seamen
Armament	As USS : 4 × Twin 3"/50 caliber guns (2×2) Later reduced to Two Forward Twin 3"/50 caliber guns[1] Chaff launchers 4 × M2 12.7×99mm heavy machine guns As USNS : 4 × M240G 7.62×51mm medium machine guns or M249 5.56×45mm light MG 1 M2 12.7×99mm heavy machine gun when security detachment is embarked
Aircraft carried	As USS : 2 × UH-46 Sea Knight helicopters HC-5 Providers As USNS : 2 × SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters HSC-25 Island Knights

USS Niagara Falls (AFS–3), a Mars-class combat stores ship, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named after the City of Niagara Falls, New York. Commissioned into the US Navy on 29 April 1967, she served until September 1994, when she was transferred to the US Military Sealift Command to serve as USNS Niagara Falls (T-AFS-3). Assigned to the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, Far East, she served until 30 September 2008, when she was finally deactivated.

Niagara Falls was designed to deliver refrigerated stores, dry provisions, technical spares, and general stores type matériel to the Fleet at sea. Her configuration provided for rapid issue rates using a minimum of men and the latest in transfer-at-sea methods, cargo handling, storage techniques, and automation. She was capable of simultaneous replenishment of one ship on each side as well as transfer of matériel by cargo helicopters, which she carried.