USS Ponce (AFSB-1)

History of USS Ponce (AFSB-1)

USS Ponce (AFSB-1) (officially designated LPD-15) is an amphibious transport dock ship that combines the advantages of a troop carrier, aircraft carrier, hospital ship and landing craft. This utility ship is not the first of its kind - earlier versions such as the dock-class DropShip Thomaston (LSD-28) entered service in 1954 and received the same commission as the Ponce, but the LSD was smaller and therefore carried Fewer troops, helicopters and amphibious tractors. USS Ponce (LPD-15) was commissioned as an amphibious warship for expeditionary warfare and humanitarian missions and became the last Austin-class surface ship.

The USS Ponce, built by Lockheed Shipbuilding in Seattle, Washington, was launched in May 1970 and officially commissioned on July 10, 1971.

USS Ponce's mission is largely routine, and she reached the end of her service life in early 2012 after about 31 years of service. Once in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, she was officially relieved of all duties, and the decommissioning process is scheduled to begin sometime in November 2012eventually in preparation for the ship's scrapping.

While normal U.S. Navy procedures do not discuss SEAL operations or their missions, the public conversion of the USS Ponce to deploy special forces in the Middle East is more of a political statement than Irans current threat to Ho News of mines in the Strait of Ermuz - the world's most strategic waterway.

Updated July 13, 2012:

On February 1, 2012, the 42-year-old USS Ponce was refitted from the landing platform deck when it was transferred from the U.S. Navy to Military Sealift Command. Shortly thereafter, Ponce entered a commercial shipyard at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ship Repair and Service Terminal in Norfolk, Virginia, for an overhaul. Shipyard workers and Ponce crew worked around the clock to complete the job in a record three months.

The overhaul is urgently needed as Iran threatens to exploit the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point in a narrow channel where a fifth of the world's oil is transported by commercial sea tankers.

The U.S. Navy considers the refit Ponce an intermediate "floating forward staging base" (AFSB) designated in its new classification, while a new class of ships is being designed and commissioned. Their upgrades are mostly internal. It's been repainted from the ground up and an improved sensor has been added. Before the conversion she displaced 8883 light tons, although now she displaces 8894 tons, an increase of 11 tons - or 22,000 pounds.

Her quick overhaul included updating bridges and replacing aging interiors and navigation equipment with state-of-the-art commercial systems. A happy crew is a well-fed crew, so the galley has been replaced with new stoves, ovens, coolers and a self-service area. Their old boiler was overhauled and the condenser cleaned.

All ship equipment on deck and below is inspected and repaired or replaced.

On June 1, 2012, USS Ponce set sail from Norfolk for her 32nd deployment in her 42-year career. Her destination is Manama, Bahrain, for two years. She will expand the 5th Fleet's area of ??operations for mine countermeasure missions and patrol the coast with her air squadron. Before her overhaul in late 2011, there was a lot of media speculation about her new mission to become a Navy SEAL mothership. Since the Navy never talks about SEAL operations, if it was indeed a SEAL base, it would be a secret base.

Ponce arrived at the Rota Naval Base in Spain on June 13, and after resupply, he arrived at Minas Salman Pier in Manama (NNS), Bahrain, on July 6, 2012.

USS Ponce remains a U.S. Navy ship, currently under the command of Captain Jon Rogers.

The crew of the new AFSB vessel will consist of 148 Civil Sealift Command (MSC) seafarers who will provide the engineering, deck and damage control departments that navigate and operate the vessel, as well as stevedores to load and unload cargo. MSC crews will also serve other deployed units in the Fifth Fleet area of ??operations as needed.

Civil servant mechanics working for MSC can service other vessels that require mechanical, electrical or diesel engine repairs.

Ponce's primary role is to support mine countermeasures (MCM). The new crew has 55 U.S. Navy sailors on board, responsible for the ship's offensive, defensive and flight operations. The Navy has information systems technicians, electronics technicians, operations specialists, gunners and sailors.

Navy crews in Ponce will launch and recover small riverboats, LCAC or LCU vessels, and Sikorsky MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopters equipped with the SeaFox Disposable Minesweeper Vehicle (EMDV). Mine Hunters have multiple sensor systems, including CCTV, to identify and destroy ground and attached mines.

Ponce has been in office since June 6, 2012.

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